


Broken - Kai Parker - The Vampire Diaries

by faeriemagick



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: 1994 Prison World (Vampire Diaries), Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Hybrids, Love, Magic, Mystic Falls (Vampire Diaries), Prison Worlds (Vampire Diaries), Romance, Smut, Vampires, Werewolves, Witch Bonnie Bennett, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:07:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 33
Words: 50,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23144398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faeriemagick/pseuds/faeriemagick
Summary: Emily Ashworth is just getting settled into college, making new friends, when all of sudden her entire life changes. Who would have thought, the town sociopath would be the one to help her through everything when she needed it most...
Relationships: Bonnie Bennett/Malachai "Kai" Parker, Damon Salvatore/Original Female Character(s), Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore, Kol Mikaelson/Malachai "Kai" Parker, Kol Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s), Malachai "Kai" Parker/Damon Salvatore, Malachai "Kai" Parker/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 43





	1. The Cold Night

The girl pulled her jacket tighter around her body as she walked down the dark streets of Mystic Falls. She had only visited a few times, having lived on campus at Whitmore College for the last 4 months. Tonight she was supposed to be meeting some friends for drinks. She was already almost 30 minutes late because her taxi had dropped her at the wrong place, so she had to walk the rest of the way.

The air was cold and felt heavy. It was a strange feeling, something she hadn't ever felt before. Suddenly she could sense eyes on her. Within seconds she was pushed up against a wall and the piercing eyes were directly in front of her. "What are you doing?!" she exclaimed, a feeling of dread washing over her. "I'm hungry and you look like a delicious snack" the voice growled back at her. 

It happened in a flash. Suddenly all she felt was pain searing through her neck. Her pulse quickening then slowing as the blood left her body.As she dropped to the floor, everything went black as her eyelids fluttered closed.

"Emily! Emily! Wake up!" suddenly she felt warm liquid in her mouth and her eyes slowly opened. "Emily! Oh my goodness, I thought we'd lost you for a minute there!" The blonde girl looked at her, brows furrowed and a terrified look on her face. Caroline. Caroline was one of the friends Emily was meeting that evening. They had met when Emily first started at Whitmore and fast became good friends. The two of them, along with Bonnie and Elena, were extremely close. "What happened? All I remember is someone attacking me. I think... I think they bit my neck?!" she put her hand up to her neck to feel for the blood that was there minutes earlier. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. "But. There was blood. So much blood" she said with a tremble in her voice. "You blacked out Emily. I'm not sure what happened but I spotted you from The Grill and all of a sudden you were in a heap on the ground!" That makes more sense, Emily told herself. She must have just blacked out. She hadn't been sleeping so well recently and was always tired. That must have been it.

Caroline and Emily made their way to the Mystic Grill. "Emily! You made it, finally!" Elena exclaimed on seeing her friend, pulling her into her arms for a hug. "Is everything okay Emily" she looked at her friend with a confused look on her face. Emily realised she obviously didn't look great after what had just happened. "Yea yea, I'm fine! I just took a bit of a funny turn on my way over but Caroline here spotted me in a heap on the ground! I'll be fine, I'm just a bit shaken" Elena glanced over at Caroline, a worried look on her face. Caroline giving a soft smile in return. 

"Hey! Em! Thank goodness you're finally here! We need to get some drinks in us." Emily looked up to see her friend Bonnie stood in front of her, a huge smile on her face. The two girls walked over to the bar, ordering tequila shots for everyone.  
When they returned to the table Elena and Caroline were sat at, there was an awkward silence hanging in the air. Emily had no idea what had just been said, but Caroline and Elena looked worried. "Hey, I said I was fine okay! No need to worry. I just need to get myself nice and drunk." The friends laughed and threw back their tequila shots as Emily felt a vibration from her pocket. Pulling her phone out, she glanced at the screen *GEORGE* She let out a gentle sign. Her baby brother. She missed him so much since moving to Whitmore. She pressed the answer button and held the phone to her ear. "George!" "Hey Em! Hows things?" "Yea, not too bad thanks. Hows my baby bro doing?" "Not too bad at all thanks." "Hey, just a sec, I'm going to step outside so I can hear you a bit better. Its pretty busy in here tonight!" Emily slinked between the bodies littered around The Grill, finally reaching the door and pushing it open. The cold air hit her face and she wished she'd not left her jacket at the table! 

Glancing at her phone she realised she'd been cut off from her phone call to her brother. "Dammit" she fumbled with the screen, pulling up his contact number, pacing up the street away from the noise. "Sis! What happened?!" "Sorry man, the call dropped on me. Guessing there's not great reception out here!" The line started to break up slightly, and she heard a couple of beeps, realising the call had dropped again. She decided to give up and try again in the morning, turning to head back to The Grill. She took a few steps, and suddenly it happened. A pain shot through her back as it smashed into the brick wall down an alleyway to the side of the street. Those eyes again. Staring. And teeth. There were teeth. No, not teeth. Fangs. Emily opened her mouth to scream only for a hand to move up at super speed, pushing against her mouth with so much force it made her upper lip bleed. "Shhhhh... be quiet pretty girl. I just need one more taste. I didn't get to finish my meal before your friend interrupted earlier" A sudden realisation hit her. She hadn't blacked out. She was attacked. But who, or what was attacking her? Again she felt the pain of her skin being pierced and the life draining from her. She felt her body go limp and then there was nothing....


	2. Thirst

Slowly stirring, her eyelids felt heavy as she opened them, trying to get her bearings. Where was she? What had happened? Then it began. Her head started to throb and a hunger washed over her. Her gums began aching like she'd never experienced before. She slowly stood up from the cold ground she had been lying on. Looking down from the alleyway the usual bustle of people had disappeared. 

There was just silence. But she could still hear something. She could hear humming and clinking of glasses in the distance. As she walked cautiously out of the alleyway she approached the grill a good minutes walk from where she had woken up. She glanced in to see one of the staff with headphones in, humming away to himself, clearing up left over glasses. How had she heard him from that distance? It wasn't possible surely? She tried the door but it was locked. The guy still completely oblivious to her standing there.

Emily pulled her phone from her pocket and noticed the time. It was past closing time. How long had she been in that alleyway for? Unlocking her phone she could see several missed calls and text messages.

George - "Hey, lost you again! I'll give you a ring tomorrow. Love you sis xx"

Caroline - "Where did you go? Been looking around and can't find you anywhere. Call me!"

Bonnie - "Em. Where are you?! No one can find you and you're not answering anyone's calls."

Caroline - "Seriously. Did you ditch us and go home??"

Caroline - "I'm trying to call you"

Elena - "Emily. Caroline is completely freaking out that you ran out on our night out! Don't worry, I'll calm her down but I think you'll have some explaining to do tomorrow!"

Caroline - "Okay. We're back at the dorm and you're not here. Did you meet a handsome stranger and hook up?? Let me know you're okay please"

Oh shit. As well as the messages there were over 50 missed calls from Caroline, Bonnie and Elena. Emily was so confused. What had happened to her. How had she lost a few hours and she why did she feel like she was dying of thirst?

She stepped back to The Grill and knocked on the door, hoping the guy clearing up would hear her or notice her. As she did he glanced up and spotted her. A look of confusion on his face, he wandered towards her and unlocked the door.

"Hey. You know we closed like half an hour ago. Everything okay?"

"I... I'm really thirsty" she said, looking hopefully at the man stood before her. He was probably a little older than her. Handsome. She could smell his aftershave. She could hear his heart beating in rhythm. How could she hear his heart beating from where she was standing? It didn't make sense.

"Look, I shouldn't really but do you want to come in and sit down for a minute? I can call you a cab? Did you want a drink of water?"

"Water would be great. Thankyou." she sank into one of the comfy chairs in the corner. Her head still pounding and the hunger and thirst getting even stronger. 

Suddenly there was a smash from behind the bar. "Ouch! Crap!" Emily jumped from her seat and ran over to the bar to check on him. "Are you okay? What hap...." she paused as she noticed the blood on his hand "Oh it's fine. Only a small cut, don't worry. Hey, it's fine okay. Do you have a problem with blood? You don't look too..." before he could finish his sentence Emily was behind the bar pinning him to the wall.

"Wha... what are you d...doing" She felt a warmth rush over her face. She moved her tongue across her teeth feeling two sharp prongs where her normal teeth should be. What was happening to her? Before she could even think straight she had lunges forward, piercing the mans skin with her teeth. The warm liquid oozing out of his body into her mouth. It tasted amazing. Like nothing she had ever tasted before. She wanted more. She drank and drank until she suddenly realised what she was doing. 

She let go of the man who dropped to the floor. Eyes wide in shock and face pale. Was he... no... had she... no... this wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening.

As quickly as she'd jumped round behind the bar, she was back the other side. Confused, but feeling stronger. What should she do now? Home. She needed to go home and figure out what to do next. And with that thought she was gone.


	3. Changes

As soon as she got to the dorm room she could already hear Caroline behind the door speaking I a loud panicked voice. "We need to ring the police or something. I know somethings happened to her. When I found her earlier she'd been attacked but I healed her. What if they came back and found her?"

Emily slowly opened the door, anxious about what would await her. As she glanced around the room she saw her three friends, Elena, Caroline and Bonnie, staring at her wide eyed looking more worried than she'd ever seen any of them before. 

Standing near the desk was a tall man, probably a bit older than them, with pitch black hair and piercing blue eyes. Next to him another man. Softer and much more gentle looking than his friend. "See!" The raven haired on exclaimed. "I told you she'd be back. No biggie. She probably met up with someone and lost track of time, right.... Emily is it?"

She was so confused. Who were these two strangers and why were they here in your dorm room?

"I.... I'm not sure what happened. I... I went outside to phone my brother and... I don't know. I don't remember. I woke up in an alleyway and had no idea how I got there. and my head. It was throbbing. And my gums. They ached Don't badly. And I was so so hungry and... oh god... what did I do?!" The room was silent. No one spoke for what felt like forever, but was really probably only seconds. 

The younger looking of the men slowly walked over to her. "Emily..." he said, gently placing a hand on my shoulder and looking me in the eyes. He had beautiful eyes. He looked kind and patient. "You need to tell us exactly what happened. What did you do after you woke up?"

"I... no I can't have done. I wouldn't..."

"Emily. Look at me. What happened. Trust me. Whatever ever you did, we can fix this. Just tell us."

" I was so hungry... when I went to the grill it was all closed up but the guy working there was really kind and let me come sit down and went to get me some water. Something smashed. A glass I think. His hand was cut. I could smell the blood. How could I smell that?! Then I don't know what came over me. I just needed his blood. I... Fangs. I had fangs! He's dead Caroline..." she turned to her blonde hair friend "he's dead! I killed him!!" 

With that, the girl burst into tears and collapsed onto the ground. The three girls huddled around her, hugging her, telling her it would all be okay. But she knew it wouldn't be. Nothing was ever going to be okay again. She heard a whoosh, then a second woosh straight after. When she looked up both the men were gone. She looked at her friends in confusion. "I think we need to explain some things to you Emily"....

An hour later Emily was sat on her bed... eyes puffy from all the crying, head throbbing from everything she had just been told by her 3 best friends. Vampires exist. Witches exist. And apparently even Werewolves exist! How could any of this be real? And now she was a vampire, along with Caroline. Elena has been a vampire too apparently but not long before Emily started at Whitmore, she had taken a cure so now she was officially human again. Good for her. Bonnie was a witch. Quite a powerful one apparently! She showed off a few of her spells. Lighting some candles, making a feather float in the air. 

Caroline explained that the only reason she was still alive was because when she found her earlier that evening she had fed her some of her blood to heal the wound on her neck. She had died with Caroline's vampire blood in her system, and that's how she had become a vampire. 

This was all far too much and Emily struggled to process it all. But it was real. All of it was real. She was a vampire and she had fed on the first human she found. There was no going back now. This was her life.

Emily had asked about the two men. Stefan and Damon Salvatore. They were vampires too but much older than Caroline. Damon was Elenas boyfriend (who she had mentioned a few times) and Stefan and Caroline apparently had a bit of a "thing"...

A heavy knock sounded on the door and in the two men walked. "Right. All sorted."

"What do you mean?" She said, looking at Damon in confusion. "I mean, it's all sorted. Done. Finito. You don't need to worry about it. Just know it's done"

Emily shook her head and stared at the floor "Well, so much for gratitude hey brother!" He said, slapping Stefan on the back.

"Sorry. I... Thankyou. Both of you. All of you. I'm just..." "Confused, shocked, scared? We know. We've been through it too and believe me when I say it does get easier. We're all going to be here for you." Stefan said, crouching down so he was at eye level with the young girl. He stood up again and walked over to the girls. 

"I think it might be a good idea for her to come and stay at ours for a few days. Just until she's settled properly." He said in a very matter of fact way.

"No. I want to stay here. No offence but I don't know either of you..." she said. Twirling a piece of her brown hair around a finger.

"I get that. But it's going to be much safer for you to be with us" he said, gesturing between himself and Damon. "Safer? For who? For all those innocent people walking around oblivious to the fact I'm now a bloodsucking, killing machine?!" Sobs started to leave her mouth and she felt tears falling down her cheeks. 

Elena gently sat next to her on the bed and pulled her in towards her, softly stroking her hair. "Shhhh... it's okay Em. Look. If it helps I can stay there with you? Then you won't be alone?" Emily sniffed a couple of times and looked up at Elena with tearful eyes. "Are you sure? I don't want to be a pain for anyone. I... I'm so sorry this has happened." The tears came again as she sobbed into Elenas shoulder. 

Her emotions felt so heightened right now. She wasn't usually like this. "Of course I'm sure silly. Come on. Let's get some bits packed up. You'll even have your own bedroom. It's a real mansion Em. You'll love it!" She gave you a gentle, sympathetic smiled. And Emily gave a small, forced one back. 

This wasn't going to be easy, but at least she had people around her who cared about her and understood what was happening.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Author Note

Don't worry, Kai WILL be appearing in the next chapter. I just like keeping you in suspense ;)

This is my first Fan Fic, so it probably won't be amazing but I hope you're enjoying reading. I'm definitely enjoying writing it!


	4. Some Kind Of Magic

"Emily! Emily! Wake up!!!!" She opened her eyes trying to get her bearings. She wasn't in her dorm room. She was staying at the Salvatore boarding house now. She sat upright, hearing her name being called out over and over.

As the sleep cleared from her eyes she could feel an intense heat all around her. Flames were creating a circle around her bed. The bright orange glow everywhere and the heat and smoke making her eyes sting. "Emily! What's happened?! How is this happening" She realises it's Elenas worried voice the other side of the flames. Her fingers feel like they're on fire and when she looks down they're glowing bright orange. "Elena! Help me! I don't know what's happening!"

"Emily. It's Stefan. You need to breath. Close your eyes and slowly breath. Trust me." How was she supposed to relax with the fire surround her? She squeezed her eyes shut and did as Stefan had told her. Slowly breathing in and out, feeling calmer by the second. The heat gradually started to die down and when she opened her eyes, the fire was gone. Seconds later she felt Elenas arms wrapped around her. "Emily! Oh my goodness, I was so worried! Thank god you're okay!" You look up to see a worried Stefan and Damon standing behind her. "Wow... one night you're here and you're already trying to burn the house down?! And when were you going to tell us you were a witch, anyway?" Damon glared at her. His brows knitting together in anger. "Brother, I don't think she had control of what just happened. Let's give her some space. Emily, we'll be downstairs when you're ready to talk to us." With that, the two brothers left her and Elena alone. 

"Elena. I have no idea what just...." she could feel the tears pooling in your eyes.

"Shhhh.... it's okay. We'll figure this out, okay? You have a shower and I'll meet you downstairs with Damon and Stefan when you're ready." She placed a gentle kiss on the girls forehead and left the room to join the others.

A few minutes later, Emily was stood under the steaming shower. Still unsure what had just happened. She was a vampire. Now she was a witch too? How was that even possible? After what seemed like hours, but was really only about 20 minutes, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. She dried off and threw on a T-shirt and some skinny jeans that she'd packed last night. She eyed herself in the mirror. She looked the same as she always did. Maybe a little more tired than usual. She pulled her fingers through her damp locks and let out a sigh. "Guess I'd better go and face the music..." she whispered to herself.

As she walked down the huge staircase she could hear lots of muffled voices coming from the sitting room. She could make out Elena, Stefan, Damon, Bonnie and Caroline. They must have called them over while she was in the shower. She could just about make out another males voice, but if didn't sound familiar to her. She stopped briefly to see if she could hear what was being said...

"No, we had no idea. How would we have known? She never said a thing to any of us!" Bonnie exclaimed. She sounded very frustrated.

"Then she must have been keeping it from all of you. She's not just become magical over night, conveniently just after she became a vampire!" Damon. He sounds angry.

You could hear other voices interjecting then the other males voice joined in, clearly talking louder to make himself heard. "Did you think that, just maybe, she had no idea? I mean. If she still has magic as a vampire, then the only way that could happen is if she's a siphoner too. It's the only way she could have kept her powers. And if she's had no contact with magic her entire life, then she wouldn't know it even existed, let alone that she was a witch" Wow.... this guy seemed to know what he was talking about. She took a few more quiet steps down to see if she could catch a peek him. Damon spoke again. Slightly less angry this time but still with a gruff tone to his voice. "I guess the weasels right. She was adopted you said didn't you Caroline? Well I guess then she may not have had a clue."

"We need to just speak to her and see what she does or doesn't know. There's no point in making assumptions at this point" Elena said softly. With that she took it as your cue to her down the last couple of steps and into the living room. She scanned around the room, full of her friends, all with anxious smiles on their faces. Then over to the three men in the room. The two brothers who had done their best to help her since she met them yesterday, and the stranger who clearly knew more about her than she did about herself!

"If it isn't the infamous Emily!" The stranger exclaimed "I've been looking forward to meeting you. We've got LOTS to discuss" He stepped closer to her. Almost close enough that she could feel his breath on her face. His blue-grey eyes stared with an intensity that was both scary and enthralling. His dark hair, quiffed up softly, a light covering of stubble on his chin only accentuating the sharp jawline that framed his bright smile. He was taller than her. Probably by close to a foot. She shifted backwards slightly to widen the gap between them, stumbling into the drinks trolley as she did. A loud rattle of bottles resonating through the room which had been filled with a heavy silence as everyone watched the interaction taking place in front of them.

"Look buddy. You barely know the girl. At least take her on a date first!" Damon laughed. Clearly making an effort to cut through the atmosphere in front of him.

"Sorry, manners..." the stranger said, blinking a few times and shaking his head "I'm Kai." He held his hand out to shake hers and Damon reached in to slap it away "Don't you even think about it you little weasel! You lay one finger on her and I'll..." 

"Damon, it's fine! He was only trying to shake my hand!" The girl said. Confused by what had just happened.

"It's not fine Emily. This jerk was about to suck all the magic from you like a juice box!"

She turned to look at Kai with a questioning and confused look on her face.

"Sorry." He shrugged with a smirk "Can't blame a guy for trying!"


	5. A What Now?

"So, basically, what this means is you're something called a Heretic"

Everyone was sitting down now intently listening to what Kai had to say. Emily was keeping her distance after the hand shaking incident. No one had really explained the whole siphoning thing to her yet but she knew she didn't want him to do that to her.

"A what now?" Emily's eyes widened. A mixture of shock and confusion in her voice.

"A Heretic. Does no one in this group listen properly?"

"I heard what you said, but I have no idea what one of those is Kai"

He lets out a big sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose. These people really don't have a clue about anything.

"A Heretic is a vampire who is also a witch. A vampire can't retain their powers if they were a witch originally. The only way you can retain your witch powers is if you're a siphoner..."

"And a siphoner is what exactly"

"Oh for goodness sake. Right. A siphoner is a kind of witch who's unable to create their own magic. They have to take magic from other witches or magical beings to create magic. Being a vampire, which is a magical being, means you're able to siphon your own vampire magic from yourself! It's pretty awesome really. Maybe a little freaky, but still"

"So you're siphoner too?"

"Yup!" He said, popping the P And throwing his hands in the air. "Except unfortunately I'm not a vampire so I have to steal magic"

"Like you just tried to from me?"

"Yeeeees..." he smirks at Emily. Absolutely no remorse for what he had tried to do minutes earlier.

"Okay. This is all really enlightening and everything, but we still don't know what happened this morning with the fire?" Damon interjected.

"No...." Kai leans forward on the coffee table, chin on one hand, staring at Emily with curiosity. "That's something we need to figure out."

"And what exactly do you get from this, man child?" Damon was clearly starting to lose his patience. Kai obviously had a plan but he was tip toeing around it currently.

"I'm not entirely sure yet... but I'm sure something will come up" he shoots you a massive grin and stands up. "I'll be off then!"

"Wait, what?!" Emily jumped from her seat walking towards him. "You can't... I mean... you're the only person who knows anything about all this. I... I don't want to hurt anyone." She reached to touch Kai's arm then pulled away quickly before making contact.

"Now, I know I'm just so much fun to be around, but I've got stuff I have to do. Namely finding my sis and trying to get her to do this damn merge with me. But if you really want to spend some time with me, you're welcome to tag along?" He smiled sweetly but she could see a glint in his eye that proved he was up to no good. "Oh and for the record, I can't siphon you if you touch me. It's the other way round. And I have to want to siphon you. So the whole touching thing? Bit of a non issue." He winks and starts to head for the door.

"Wait. I. Can you come back later and give me some pointers? Even just some help with this, magic stuff. I have no idea what I'm doing with it!"

He stood still for a few seconds with his back to her, thinking over what she had just said to him. "Sure. Whatever. Seeya." And with that he was gone.

"Emily? What are you thinking? We only called him here because he knows about this stuff. You can't spend time with that jerk. He's dangerous. He's done awful things and he WILL turn on you the second he thinks he can get something out of it." Damon huffed as he grab a bottle of bourbon and filled his glass.

"I can handle it Damon. I'm a vampire and a witch. What is he that's so dangerous for me now?"

"He's a goddam sociopath Emily" Damon throws the amber liquid to the back of his throat and places the glass down hard on the drinks trolley, then he's gone in a whoosh.

"Okay..." she mumbled to herself as she slumped down onto the sofa. She glanced at her friends all still standing there looking more worried than ever. 

"Damon's right you know. Kais dangerous. Damon and I were stuck in a prison world with him and the second he wanted something his way he turned on us. He almost killed me numerous times." Bonnie said. Her eyes were filling with tears and her jaw clenching. She clearly found it difficult to be around or speak about him.

"A prison what?" Was all Emily could say.

"A Prison Emily." Stefan took over with the conversation to give Bonnie a break "Kai was put there in a 1994"

"1994?? He looks about our age though?"

"He's 22. Perpetually 22, when he was stuck in prison world for 18 years."

"18 years... all alone?" She felt sad for Kai. 18 years on your own is such a long time. She could barely cope with a few days without human contact. What must 18 years have been like?

"He killed most of his own family Emily. That's why he was sent there" Emily gasped, her hand jumping up to her mouth. "He was supposed to do something called The Merge with his twin sister Jo. But because of his siphoning, his dad didn't want him to become the coven leader, so they had another set of twins to complete the merge instead. Kai found out about this and went completely nuts. He murdered all of his other siblings except Jo, who he stabbed with a hunting knife, and the twins, Luke and Liv, who managed to hide somewhere and not be found. Coincidentally, Liv and Luke now live in Mystic Falls and Jo lives in Whitmore!"

Emily sat there in complete shock for what felt like forever. The man she had just sat and had a relatively civil conversation with, was a murderer. A cold blooded murderer. And not only that, he had murdered his little brothers and sisters. How could anyone live with themselves after doing something like that?

"Now can you understand why Damon isn't keen for you to be hanging around Kai? Don't get me wrong, he knows his stuff. And no doubt he'd be able to help you a LOT, but he always wants something in return. Just bare that in mind. And you may be a big scary Heretic, but he's also got nothing to lose. And that makes him even scarier."

Later that day she sat in her room, stewing over what Stefan had said to her. He was right. Kai was one of the most dangerous kinds of people. He had nothing left to lose anymore, so why would he care about anything? But he was the only one who knew all this stuff about Heretics and she desperately needed to know what she was now, and what she was capable of.


	6. Emotions

"Phasmatos incendia".... "Phasmatos incendia".... "PHASMATOS INCENDIA!"

'Why can't I do this?!" Emily let out an exasperated sigh. "You said this was one of the most basic spells, yet I can't do it? Why Bonnie?"

Bonnie walked towards her, perching next to her on the sofa. She reached out to hold Emilys hand and softly smiled at her. "It takes practice. You're completely new to this. Most witches start practicing when they're very young. Your magic's been lying dormant for years now so it's going to take some time to bring it back to the surface properly and take control of it."  
"But I managed to set fire to the bedroom the other morning.... IN MY SLEEP!" Bonnie could tell she was starting to get frustrated.

"You need to relax. Thats the problem. You're over thinking." Emily heard the familiar voice coming from the hallway. She turned to see Kai leaning against the door frame, a knowing smirk on his face. "Like you said, you set fire to the whole room in your sleep. You have the magic there, you just need to stop thinking about it."  
She looked at him with confusion "But how can I NOT think about it? Surely thats the point?"

He walked towards her and crouched down in front of her, holding his hands out, palms upward. She gave him a suspicious look and he huffed. "I'm not going to siphon you. I'm trying to help. But if you want to carry on with Bon-bon's methods and keep failing thats entirely up to you."

Bonnie folded her arms across her chest glaring at the back of Kais head. "I can feel you glaring at me Bonnie. Hey, how about we get this young lady a glass of water? I'm sure she's thirsty after repeating the same incantation over and over and..."  
"Fine! I'll be back in a minute Emily."

Bonnie left the room and Kai turned back to the girl. "Well?" His hands were still infront of her. She slowly put her hands on top of his. Hesitating slightly as their skin touched. 

"You have really nice palms..." He mumbled, not looking at the girls face.  
"Wha...."

"Right." He cut her off. "Now close your eyes." Emily did as he said. Still unsure she should be in such close proximity to the man in front of her.

"Breath." She did. Already feeling much calmer than before. "Now, say the spell. Don't shout it. Just let the words fall from your mouth."  
"Phasmatos incendia..." she whispered. She felt Kais hands twitch beneath hers and opened her eyes slowly. His eyes were fixed on her. He gave her a quick smirk and tilted his head towards the fireplace which was now glowing with orange flames.

"I did it! I actually did it!" She jumped up from the sofa in excitement. Without thinking she threw her arms around Kai and gave him a hug "Thankyou! Thankyou!"  
He stood stock still, then slowly placed his hands on her arms, moving her aside. "Sure. Its... whatever..."

He glanced around the room, avoiding eye contact with the girl.  
"Sorry, I... I got a bit excited." She muttered, feeling very uncomfortable.  
She sat back on the sofa playing with her fingers. She could feel a heat moving over her face. She was embarrassed.

'What the..." She glanced up at Kai who was looking around the room in shock.  
"What???"

"Look!" She followed his eyes, and sure enough every single candle in the room was burning ferociously. The fireplace was roaring intensely.

"I didn't do that"

"Yes. You did!"  
"But I didn't say anything. I didn't...." She remembered the heat that had creeped up on her a few seconds earlier. "I think I did it subconsciously.." she said, sounding unsure of herself.  
'What do you mean?"  
"I mean. I was embarrassed. After I... hugged you... and I felt really hot. Then this happened."  
"Oh" he shifted uncomfortably. "Well thats new."  
"New how?" She looked at him furrowing her brows in confusion.  
"I mean, it's possible to say an incantation in your head and it happens. It takes some practice. But this was purely through emotions. What you were feeling, manifested itself into a spell."  
"Oh! Wow. That's pretty cool!" She said, looking at Kai hopefully.  
"I don't know about cool. But definitely dangerous!" He looked worried as he bit his bottom lip. She'd never seen him like this before. He seemed to always know everything. But this time, he looked clueless and he didn't like that feeling.

"I've got to go. I need to look into this. Just.... be careful okay?"

"Kai Parker.. are you... worried about me?" she smirked at him, letting out a small chuckle.  
"No. Of course not. I just don't want you burning the whole house down thats all."  
She looked slightly disappointed and he looked very uncomfortable.   
"I'll be back when I find something."

With that, he was gone again.

"Emily? What happened? Where did Kai go?" She sat down on the sofa beside her and Emily proceeded to tell her what had just happened.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bonnie had called the others and explained what had happened. They'd all gradually turned up at the Salvatore mansion and were sat around reading through the hundreds of books the two brothers had accumulated over the years.

"I can't find a single thing about this so-called emotion magic anywhere!" Damon huffed, throwing down the book he'd been reading and making his way to the drinks trolley. He poured himself a bourbon and threw it back. He probably didn't even taste it, how fast it went down.

"Why did the little weasel run off straight after finding this out? He could have stayed and tried to help us with this. Nope. Scrap that. This is Kai. He only ever wants to help himself" He poured another glass.

"He did say he was going to do some research and he'd be back..." Emily said hopefully.

"Yea right. That rat's probably researching what he can gain from this. So remind me again, what triggered this fire display??"  
"I..." Emily played with her fingers for a few moments "I'm not sure. I just felt embarrassed and all of a sudden it happened."  
"Embarrassed? Did the cretin do something to you?" He looked over at Emily, genuinely concerned.  
"No... no of course not."

He downed another glass of bourbon and clapped his hands together.  
"Well, I for one think after the afternoon we've all had, we need to cut loose tonight! Who fancies a night on the town?" Everyone glanced over at Damon.  
"Damon I don't think..." Elena began.

"No, I think he's right, we all need a break and I sure as hell need a bit of normality back in my life right now!" Emily said, standing from the sofa and taking a glass from the trolley "I say we have a night of fun and forget all of this, just for one evening!" With that she poured the amber liquid into her glass and threw it straight back.

"Looks like we're heading out then!" Caroline said excitedly "Come on girls, lets go get ready" She grabbed Emilys hand and they headed over to their dorm.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had only been a day since she was last in the room, but it felt like a life time ago with everything that had happened.

Emily stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a soft towel. She could hear everyone chatting away, getting themselves glammed up for the evening. She sighed to herself, remembering how normal her life had been before the events of the past 24 hours. Suddenly she heard a raised voice and froze with her hand on the door handle.

"Nope! You are not doing this tonight! We're having a fun night out. Emily needs this. It's not the time for you to conduct your little experiments Kai!" Caroline screeched loudly. Kai. What the hell was he doing here? 

She slowly opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the living space.

"Kai?" She looked over to see him standing with his hands up, confronted by 3 very angry looking women. She giggled to herself at how scared he looked in that moment. The big bad scary Kai, terrified of 3 small women!

He looked at her with pleading eyes, and a small smirk on his face as always. "Hey. Do you think you could call your dogs off maybe" He chuckled to himself, obviously finding his remark amusing.  
"You're such a jerk face Kai!" Caroline shouted, throwing a mascara wand at him.

"What did you want Kai" Emily said, walking towards him.  
"Well..." He looked her up and down, grinning. Her hair was still wet from the shower and droplets of water sat on her skin. She pulled her towel tighter around her body, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the second.

'Perv!" Caroline shouted, throwing something else through the air as he ducked out of the way laughing.  
"Look. I'm not here to destroy your planned night of debauchery" he chuckled "I just wanted to try some things. Try and figure out what we're working with here."

"WE are not working with anything." Emily huffed, grabbing her shirt and sweat pants from her bed. "I have spent an entire afternoon, after you ditched me, with MY friends, researching MY powers." Her voice was getting louder and her friends were all staring at her with a sense of pride. "So YOU, need to leave now so that we can enjoy a fun night out. Because god knows I need it right now"!

Kai blinked a few times, thrown of by the tirade that had just been flung at him.

"Fine. I'll catch you tomorrow then. But don't come running to me when you set someone on fire while you're drunk." He turned and opened the door, briefly glancing back with what could easily be mistaken for a worried look on his face. He sighed and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

'Wow Em... you sure told him!" Elena said, walking up to the girl.

"Yeah, I don't think we've ever seen you so angry before Emily. I think you really caught Kai off guard because he never backs down that easily" Bonnie said, a big grin on her face.  
'Well, I'm not his toy to play with. If he wants to help me then fine, but I'ms sure as hell not going to be dictated to by him. Now, lets get ourselves looking gorgeous and have some fun!" 

All four girls let out a cheer and a few whoops. This was going to be a fun evening, she just knew it.


	7. Let’s Dance

The girls were all ready to go out and have fun. There was no denying all four of them looked amazing.

"Selfie!" Caroline shrieked before holding her phone above them all, huge smiles all round.

The girls put the last few touches to their makeup and left the dorm to meet the boys at the club.

They were inside the club now, propping up the bar, still waiting for the Salvatore brothers to arrive.

"What on earth are they doing?! I thought us girls took a while to get ready" Caroline was getting annoyed and kept looking at her phone.

"I'm sure they'll be here soon. Why don't we go have a dance while we're waiting Care?" Emily grabbed the blonde girls hand and was about to head to the dance floor when she had a sudden thought. "First! 4 shots of your best tequila please!" she smiled at the bartender, holding 4 fingers up as the music was so loud she wasn't sure he'd heard her properly.  
'Tequila? Oh Em.... why are you doing this to us?" Bonnie sighed, but still took the glass of tequila when the barman deposited it onto the tray.

"3-2-1" With that the 4 girls downed their shot of tequila and ran towards the dance floor.

The music was thumping through their bodies as they danced around, having the most fun any of them had had in a long time. Emily couldn't help feeling like she was free for once. Like she didn't have anything to worry about. Not college, not her brother, not being some crazy vampire, witch hybrid who had absolutely no control over her magic whatsoever.... Oh. Reality hit her suddenly. She was having fun now, but tomorrow morning she would wake up, probably with a headache, and still as a Heretic. George. How would she tell her little brother what she was? Could she ever tell him what she was?

"Hey sweet cheeks. Why so glum?" She felt a hand on her hip as she turned to face the person behind her. He was a handsome guy. Probably about her age. Dark blonde hair swept over to the side and a beautiful smile. She smiled up at him and threw her arms round his neck smiling "I'm not anymore" she said. His hands drifting downwards until they stopped at her arse. "Hey. Hands up dude!" He smirked and moved them up slightly, his fingers still grazing her lower back. 

They danced for a while until Emilys feet started to hurt. She looked around to see her friends dancing close by, Caroline winking at her. "Hey, I think I need to grab a drink"  
"Sure" he said as he guided her off the dance floor towards the bar. "What would you like? My treat"  
"Uh. Just a water please!" She was already starting to feel dehydrated from the dancing. "Hey, I need to just head to the bathroom quickly. I'll be back in a minute"  
"Sure thing. I'll be right here beautiful" He gave her a dazzling smile as she headed in the direction of the ladies.

She touched up her makeup in the mirror and smiled at herself. She was feeling pretty good about herself tonight. Despite everything that had been happening, she felt like just a normal person in this moment.

As she walked towards the bar, she saw the guy she'd been dancing with standing there, a glass of water in one hand a two shots in the other.  
"I got you a shot to chase that water with!" He grinned.  
"Oh, okay, thanks! Hey, what's your name?" She said, taking both drinks from him, sipping her water before throwing back the shot. The heat hit the back of her throat making her cough slightly.  
"I'm Shaun. You?" he put his hand out for her "Emily" She smiled and shook his hand.

The brothers still hadn't arrived at this point, but she could still see her friends dancing away on the dance floor.  
"Do you want to grab a seat? Rest those feet of yours?" He said with a kind smile on his face.  
"Sure, that sounds like a very good idea!"

They walked to the other side of the club where there were several tables and chairs, and found an empty one. She slumped down in the comfy seat and let out a big sigh.

"My feet are killing me already" She huffed, undoing the straps on her heels. Shaun sat beside her and shifted close to her, putting an arm behind her shoulders. She was starting to feel quite drunk already, even though she'd only had two shots and a couple of small drinks before they left for the club. "I'm not feeling so good" she said as her head started to swim. 

"Hey, lets go out and get some fresh air? That may help?" He was so kind. It had been a while since anyone had shown Emily kindness like this. She did her heels back up and stood up, her legs feeling very wobbly. He slung an arm around her waist to support her and they made their way to the back door. As they stepped outside the cold air hit her face and for a moment, she felt a bit better. Then it hit her again. 

Everything felt so weird and hazy. She'd been drunk many times before, but she'd never felt like this. Shaun walked with her for a minute then she stopped to lean against a wall in the alley behind the club "I'm really not feeling great" she said, swaying slightly.

"Its okay, I've got you" He was standing right in front of her now. One hand on the wall beside her head, the other on her waist. She could feel his hand sliding downwards to the hem of her skirt, the cold air against her skin as he lifted it up. "Shaun.. I... don't..." she could barely get the words out. in fact she could hardly feel anything at that moment, just the cold on her skin. His fingers drifted up her thighs and grazed across her panties. "You want this. I could tell from the second you saw me you wanted this" he breathed against her neck, the smell of alcohol strong. 

She tried to move her hand to push his away but she could barely lift it. She felt like she was frozen like a statue. She felt him pull her underwear down and his cold fingers graze across her skin roughly. "You like that"  
"No!" she squeaked. But he didn't want to listen. She could feel a ball of energy building up inside her as he started to unzip his jeans. The fear was so intense she wanted to cry out at the top of her voice but she couldn't.

Suddenly she felt a burst of energy and she screamed out "I SAID NO!!!!!" With that there was an ear bursting bang and a huge flash of light and Shaun was sent flying across the alleyway, smashing into the wall on the other side. 

She felt her legs begin to give way and just before she hit the ground she felt two strong arms catch her and a muffled voice in her ear. She could just about make out who's voice it was, then her eyes closed and it was black.


	8. Very Bad Things

"Emily! Emily!" She could hear voices all around her. Slightly muffled but become clear by the second.  
"So what exactly happened?" a female voice said.

"I don't know. I spotted her with this guy in the alleyway. I thought they were just, you know, getting on. Then I heard her shout No and there was this big bang and flash of light and he went flying!"  
'So you didn't do anything to him? It was Emily"  
"Yes. I just saw it happen. He was.... he was trying to..."

Emilys eyes fluttered open and she could see people around her. She was back at the Salvatore house, she could tell that much. The first face she saw was Bonnies, staring down at her, looking very worried. Caroline and Elena were having a conversation in the background and Stefan and Damon looked to be having a very heated arguement the other side of the room. As she glanced to her right she saw him standing there, staring at her with a concerned look on his face.

"You... you were in the alleyway. You caught me." Her throat felt raw, as if she'd been screaming for hours non stop. He moved closer to her and crouched down.  
"Yea. I mean. I didn't really do much. You did most of it yourself!" He had a look of what could almost be mistaken for pride on his face.  
"I did what? I don't remember much. All I remember is dancing, drinking... I remember being outside with some guy from the club. We went to get some fresh air and..."  
"He tried to rape you Emily. He had his dirty mitts all over you. But you fought back and you hurt him pretty bad..." He was still looking at her softly.

"I... what did I do to him? Did I kill him?"  
"No... but he's definitely dead." he frowned and stood up. "Look. I really need to go. Important stuff to do. I'll catch you all later." With that he walked out of the room.

Bonnie looked at Emily confused, then shook it off.

Emily let out a small laugh "You'd almost think he cared about me for a second there." she gave Bonnie a small smile and started to sit up, her head pounding in her skull. Everyone ran over as soon as they saw her move.  
"You're definitely having an eventful couple of days aren't you?!" Damon joked nervously. No-one looked like they really knew what to say to her.

"You could say that...." she shifted in her seat and grabbed the bottle of water on the table. Taking a sip then rolling the bottle in her hand a few times, looking at it. "I think he spiked my drink. I hadn't drunk that much. I could barely move. I don't even know how I managed to fight him off.

"Magic..." Bonnie muttered. "You were angry and scared and that manifested itself into the energy you produced to push him off you"  
Emily looked at Bonnie and blinked a few times. 48 hours ago, if she'd said that to her she would have though she was crazy. Now, not so much.

"Hey, I know this is important, but we've got something pretty serious going on right now so we've got to shoot. I noticed the little weasel slipped out already?" Damon said, looking over to Stefan.  
"Looks that way. We'd better try and find him. Emily, you get some rest okay." He looked at her with concern and then the brothers walked out of the room.

"Why are they trying to find Kai? He was just here with them a second ago" Emily was confused. He'd just helped her and now they're after him? What had he done?  
"I think you need to rest up Emily. We can tell you in the morning" Elena said, resting a hand on Emily's shoulder.

"No. Tell me now. Please. What did he do?"

Half an hour later you were sat there in disbelief. you head still pounding. Probably even more so now that you found out what Kai had been up to that evening.

Bonnie, Caroline and Elena had filled you in. The reason the brothers weren't at the club was because they'd had a call. It turned out that one of the girls friends, Tyler, had called them in a panic. His girlfriend, Liv, and her brother Luke had been out with their Dad. Their Dad had tried to get them to do something called "The Merge". 

As Bonnie explained it, they were part of a coven called the Gemini coven, and when they reached 22, the twins would have to complete the merge and basically become one all powerful leader of the coven. The twins were the two youngest brother and sister of Malachai Parker... Kai. Kai and his twin Jo were supposed to complete the merge but because of Kai siphoning and general craziness, their Dad didn't want him to become leader. Kai found out and murdered most of his siblings leaving Jo alive and being unable to find the twins. 

Jo tricked Kai into thinking she was going to merge with him, but when they went to complete the merge ceremony, the Gemini coven sent him to the prison world which he was trapped in for 18 years until he finally escaped.

It turns out, this evening, Jo had gone to complete the merge with Kai but Luke intervened and persuaded Kai to merge with him instead. Kai obviously won.  
So that's what Damon and Stefan had spent most of the evening trying to deal with.

"Thats... a lot to take in..." Emily breathed deeply, trying to calm her nerves. Just as she'd been thinking Kai wasn't such an awful person, he does this. He really was irredeemable.

"I know. And what with everything thats happened to you tonight, we didn't want to have to burden you with all of this as well." Bonnie said gently.

"What will they do to Kai when they catch him?" Emily says. Bonnie looked over at her, confused by the concern in her voice.  
"Does it matter? He's done awful things. Hopefully they'll make him suffer." She frowned.

"But he's the only person who seems to know how to help me. If he dies.... What happens to me?"  
"We'll figure something out Emily" Elena said, sitting down next to her. "I promise"  
"No, she's right. He seems to be the one person who knows about all of this. He could be useful in trying to figure out how to help Emily." Bonnie sighed. "I'll ring Stefan"

A few minutes later, Bonnie came back into the room. "They've got him."  
Emily opened her mouth to speak, a worried look on her face.  
"They've got him, and he's fine. They're bringing him back here and he'll stay in the basement tonight then help us do some more research tomorrow"  
"In the basement? What do you mean" Emilys brows knitted together in a frown.

"It's the safest place. Damon and Stefan will take turns to keep an eye on him. Once he's helped with you, then we'll deal with him once and for all." Bonnie turned and walked out of the room leaving everyone else sat in silence.

"I guess I'd better get some sleep then. Looks like it's going to be a long day tomorrow" Emily stood from the sofa and turned to the two remaining girls "Night. See you tomorrow." They both gave her a big hug and she walked up to her room. 

Well, at least it can't get much worse than the past 48 hours. She sighed to herself, collapsing onto her bed and falling straight to sleep.


	9. Take and Take

When Emily woke the next morning her head didn't feel much better. She had taken forever to get to sleep, going over everything in her head from the night before. She had been attacked. Almost raped. Her powers had gone crazy... the guy from the alleyway. What did Kai mean when he said he was dead now? She daren't even think what that meant. Had he gone back after he'd brought her back to the Salvatore house? How did he get her back here? Why didn't he just leave him in the alleyway? She had so many questions for him. 

She jumped out of bed and pulled on a pair of skinny jeans and a Red Hot Chilli Peppers T-shirt. As she reached the top of the stairs she could hear a lot of noise coming from downstairs. She ran down the stairs to see what was going on and there in the kitchen stood both the Salvatore brothers, Bonnie and Elena. Sat on a stool with his head hanging over a bucket was Kai. He glance up at her.

"Nice shirt... A band I've actually heard of...." He muttered... followed by a groan.

"Wow. You look like shit..." she said, walking into the room.

"Likewise. Thanks." He glared at her, breathing heavily.

"What's up with him?" She turned to Bonnie and Elena to ask.

"No idea. Apparently he spent all night last night waffling on about the usual crap he comes out with, then when he woke up this morning he started puking everywhere. Damon and Stefan had to drag him up here from the basement." Bonnie said. She didn't sound too concerned about Kai. In fact she sounded mildly amused. 

"Serves him right for that crap he pulled last night. Karma." Elena hissed.

Emily heard Kai let out a loud groan and blood started coming from his mouth. 

"Oh my god! Is there anything we can do?!"

"Yea, we can let the little rat sit here until he bleeds out. That's what we can do." Damon grunted.

"As much as that would be a lovely idea, don't forget why we let him live last night brother." Stefan said, gesturing towards Emily.

"Yea, I'm still not entirely sure why we need him? Surely we can figure this out ourselves?" Damon frowned at his brother and stomped out of the room. Elena and Stefan followed after him while Bonnie stayed behind with you and Kai.

"I think I know what's happening" Kai groaned. Emily looked at him. His face was covered in beads of sweat and had gone a grey colour. He really did look like he was dying.

"I was thinking. Since the whole merge and the whole "I'm not your twin but let's try this anyway" thing with Luke. I was supposed to merge with Jo. Now that I'm merged with Luke, my body is NOT liking it one bit. And now that I'm the Gemini Coven leader...."

"If you die, the coven dies..." Bonnie sighed. Emily looked at Bonnie with a worried look on her face then back at Kai.

"What can we do? Is there a spell we could do to help? Anything"

"Aw..." Kai said tilting his head to one side and giving a small smile to Emily. "Is someone worried about me?"

"Well. You did help me yesterday and... look is there something we can do?"

He chuckles and starts coughing blood again. As he coughs he leans forwards and grabs onto Emily's arm for support. Suddenly she felt a burning sensation on her arm and the her veins felt like they were being dragged through sandpaper. "Ow! Kai! Stop!" Emily jumped back rubbing her arm. "Did you just siphon me?!"

He looked up at her "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. But I think I know what you can do to help me..."

"What?" Emily was getting more and more frustrated now and her arm was still burning.

"I need your magic...."

"No no a thousand times no!" Bonnie was pacing the sitting room with Emily standing close by. She had dragged Emily out of the kitchen after Kai had asked for her magic. Emily actually looked like she might consider doing it.

"I can siphon my own magic, so once he's taken it, I can get it back again!"

"No Emily. It's too dangerous. If he takes a tiny bit too much, you're.... you're dead!" Emily could see tears welling in her friends eyes.

"He won't hurt me. I know he won't."

"How do you know? You've seen what he's capable of. You're just another magic person for him to drain and leave for dead. That pain you felt in there? It will take longer and it will feel SO much worse."

"I know Bonnie. I just. I need him... I need him to help me with my powers and everything." Emily looked down at the floor. Twiddling her fingers like she always did when she was anxious.

"Fine. If that's really what you want to do, I can't stop you. But I'm not going to be here to witness my best friend in pain." Bonnie stormed from the room and out the front door slamming it behind her. 

"Well that seemed to go well" Kai was stood in the doorway, slightly crouched over, looking on the brink of collapsing still, but slightly less on deaths door as he did a few minutes earlier. Her magic must have helped a bit.

She walked towards him and stopped just in front of him. "If we do this. You have to promise me you'll stop before it's too much. When I tell you to stop, you will."

"Sure" 

She glared at him "Kai!"

"Okay, okay. Pinky swear." He held his pinky up to her and she swatted it away.

"We're not 6 Kai."

She hooked his arm over shoulder and helped him walk to the sofa. Practically throwing him down onto it. "Hey! Gently does it! I'm dying here remember."

She sat on the sofa beside him and put her arm out in front of him. He shifted into a sitting position and turned towards her, pushing her arm back down into her lap. He put a hand on either side of her face and looked at her. "Thankyou Emily. No ones ever even considered doing anything like this for me before. I... I appreciate it."

"It's fine. I need you. For magic stuff" she mumbled trying to look away from his piercing eyes. 

He chuckled to himself. "This is going to sting a bit, okay?"

"I know. It's fine."

With that she felt the pain again, this time in her face and neck. She could see his hands glowing red on her skin. She could feel a heat and a tingling sensation which she wasn't entirely sure was caused by the siphoning if she was honest. He closed his eyes as he took her magic from her. Almost as if he didn't want to see the pain in her eyes. "Kai. Kai. I think you need to stop now. Kai. Kai!!!!!!" Suddenly every piece of glass in the room exploded, shattering everywhere. His hands quickly jumped away from her face and he opened his eyes in shock. "I'm so sorry! Emily I..."

She just stared at him with tears in her eyes. "You promised me Kai. One thing I asked of you and you still needed to take more. I was kidding myself when I thought you could change." She stood up from the sofa and headed out of the room leaving Kai sat there.

"What the hell just happened in here?!" Damon stormed into the room grabbing Kai by the scruff of his shirt. "You've got some serious explaining to do weasel."

Emily was sat on the bed in her room. Wiping the tears from her eyes and taking deep breaths. What had she been thinking? Did she really think that just because Kai had helped her the night before, he could be trusted? She was delusional. Being too trusting had always been a big flaw of hers, every since she was a young child. She remembered back to the times when she had trusted people too easily before. Friends, even her family. Everyone knew she wanted to see the best in everybody and they took advantage of that.

She sat there sniffling for a few minutes then started rummaging through her bag on the floor. She pulled out the leather bound journal and started to flick through the pages.

January 26th 2015

Today was the worst day of my life. After months of trying to get up the courage to speak to Jake, I finally did it. Everyone pushed me to, even though they knew I still didn't feel ready. When I walked up to his bench at lunch time, I felt a confidence I'd never felt before. I was going to do this. I had to do this. As I approached the table full of jocks and cheerleaders, I felt my face go red and almost turned around. That's when one of the girls spoke to me. She smiled. I thought she was being nice. I was so wrong. She asked me if I was okay. If I was lost. I explained I just wanted to have a chat with Jake. She smiled, but I could see the edges of her mouth twitching as if she was holding back laughter. She whispered to Jake who was sat next to her and he stood up walking towards me. We moved away from the table slightly and thats when I finally plucked up the courage to do it. I asked him if he'd like to grab a coffee one day after school. He looked at me, a smile appearing on his face. He was going to say yes! He was ACTUALLY going to say yes to me! Thats when he burst out laughing. "No. I don't want to help you lose your V card you freak...! What a weird thing to ask!" he looked over at the table we'd just come from and everyone was in hysterics. I looked around the canteen and every single person in the school had heard, and were whispering or laughing. Some shouted out cruel comments "Freaks should only have sex with other freaks!" " Are you crazy as well as weird?!" I could feel the tears running down my face and my whole body felt hot with embarrassment. Thats when I ran from the canteen and ran all the way back home. I'm never going back there again. I hate that school and I hate everyone in it. I'm never going to trust anybody again.

She slammed the journal shut, throwing it towards the door at the same second it flung open.  
"What did this poor book ever do to you, huh?" He stood there. Her journal in his hand, and a look of slight remorse on his face. "I really am sorry. I got carried away and didn't hear you tell me to stop. I...."  
"Just stop Kai. I don't want to hear your excuses. I trusted you and you broke my trust, the same as everyone else in my life ever has." She sniffled and wiped her eyes on her shirt.  
"Don't go ruining a perfectly good shirt. Here." He handed her a tissue. She wanted to thank him, but she didn't. He was the reason she was feeling like this.

"What do you want Kai? More magic? Because I'm not giving you any more. Ever."

"That's not why I came up here."  
"Then what Kai. I've had about enough of everything at the moment to be honest."  
"I want to teach you some spells. Try and get these emotions under control a bit maybe. I can already tell you're going to be a very powerful witch once you get the hang of it all. You just need some guidance."  
She glance up at him. He looked like he genuinely wanted to help.  
"Can't Bonnie do that? She seems to know her stuff..."  
"No offence to Bon-bon, but she's not the best witch I've ever met and she's still pretty new at it in comparison to little old me." He grinned, pointing a finger at himself.  
"Fine. But NO more siphoning."  
"Deal" he smiled.  
"Whats with the sudden attitude change? You couldn't get out of her fast enough last night."  
"You scratch my back and all that I guess... And I think after merging with Luke, I may have inherited a few of his qualities. Namely empathy.. I guess I feel... Bad?"  
"You feel BAD? I didn't think you had any emotions?"  
"I guess I do now! Brilliant...." he mumbled "Feelings are hard." He shrugged his shoulders and walked towards her.

Emily shifted slightly on the bed, looking uncomfortable when he came closer to her.  
"Is it okay if I sit here?"  
"Yea sure. Go for it." She moved back slightly to widen the space between them. He seemed to genuinely want to help, and it did sound like he didn't mean to hurt her earlier. But he was still Kai. He was still a sociopath (all be it with some emotions now) and he still murdered most of his family in cold blood. She wasn't risking getting too close to him just yet.


	10. Feelings Are Hard

It must have been at least a couple of hours later and despite Kai trying his hardest to teach Emily some basic spells, and trying to be patient with her, they were both getting pretty fed up.

"Look. I don't know about you, but I could do with some fresh air. Should we take this outside for a bit? Maybe a change of scenery will help?"

Emily couldn't fault him for how patient he was being with her. She imagined a few days ago it would have been a completely different situation. He didn't strike her as a man of much patience.

"Sure. That could help I guess."

They walked downstairs and past Damon who was sat on one of the sofas, drinking bourbon as usual. "And where might you be off to?" he asked, without even lifting his eyes from the book he was reading.  
'Just outside. We've been trying to get these spells to work for a while now and Kai thought a change of scenery would help..."  
"Did he now. Well, best Kai remember I'm right here and I have vampire hearing. I'll be listening and the second I think Emily may be in any kind of danger, I'll be right there to rip your throat out. Got it?" He glared over at Kai who stood silent for a few seconds, then let out a nervous laugh. "Sure thing 'Dad'..."

With that, the two of you stepped outside onto the grass. The sun was shining brightly and there was a slight breeze. Emily almost thought she caught Kai staring at her, but she shrugged it off and walked a bit further out before sitting down in the soft green grass. She flung her shoes off and started curling her toes, feeling the blades of grass between them. She smiled, remembering back to when she was younger and her and George would run around barefoot in the back garden playing cowboy games.

'Whats the stupid look for?" He said, plonking himself down beside her. She shifted away from him slight again and he sighed quietly to himself.  
"Its called smiling Kai. You should do it sometimes."  
'I know what smiling is genius. I just couldn't figure out WHY you were smiling."  
She looked down at her feet then looked back to him "Just remembering. Good memories from when I was younger, that kind of thing, you know."  
His face dropped slightly and he looked down at the grass. Almost as if he was trying to think of his own memory. "Nope. Not really. Only memories I have from my childhood were of my family avoiding spending time with me, or better still, berating me constantly for being an abomination."

She wasn't sure what to say. She knew from what others had said that his family weren't overly pleased with the fact Kai was born as Siphon, but this was the first he'd ever really mentioned it to her.  
"Surely you must have some good memories?" She asked him hopefully.  
"Actually, yeah. Me and my brother Joey. We used to play Doctor Mario. My favourite memory was when I finally beat him!" He grinned. he looked genuinely happy in that moment. Emily couldn't help but smile with him. Then his face shifted. His grin turned into more of a smirk. "But my favourite memory, was when I beat him to death." He looked at Emily and gave her a huge smile. Her face dropped in shock. It took her a few seconds before she could even think of a response.

"Why do you do that?" She said, looking over to him.  
"Do what?" He asked.  
"You say or do something nice, then you say or do something horrible to counteract it. It's almost as if you don't want people to think good things about you. You just want people to think you're this evil sociopath with no feelings."  
"Because that's exactly what I am Emily. And no amount of trying to get me to reminisce about my childhood, going all Ricki Lake on me, is going to change that. It's who I am."

She sighed and laid back on the grass closing her eyes. She could hear the grass moving around beside her. She didn't open her eyes but she could feel the heat from his body right next to her and she knew he was there.  
He sighed. "I know this is just what you do. You try and see the best in people. But honestly, some people are just bad."

She didn't respond. She just lay there, eyes shut, breathing slowly, soaking in the suns rays. Despite the conversation they had just had, she felt happy for the first time in a while. She felt calm and relaxed.

'Uh... Emily."  
"What Kai? Can't I just enjoy this moment in peace?!"

She felt him shake her shoulder and she sat up slowly opening her eyes. All around them were leaves, feathers, petals. Swirling like a tornado around them. It was beautiful. She couldn't help smiling and when she glanced over at Kai, she could almost make out a smile on his face too.

It felt like forever, but was probably only seconds, but slowly everything drifted down to the ground around them.

Kai turned to Emily and lifted an eyebrow with a grin on his face. "Now that, was something I'll definitely remember!"  
Emily chuckled and smiled back it him.  
Her smile dropped slightly and she looked down to the ground. "Its all well and good being able to make these things happen, but I have absolutely no control over it, and I can't even do the most basic spells yet!" She huffed in frustration.  
"It takes practice, that's all. You clearly have the power there, it's just figuring out how to use it. Come on, lets try again."

He sat on the ground, legs crossed and she sat in front of him. He put his hands out infront of her, palms up and she hesitantly put hers on top. She swore she felt a tiny spark of electricity and jumped slightly as their skin met. " You really don't trust me do you?"  
"Honestly? No. Not yet anyway." She grinned. He gave her a tiny grin back. They both closed their eyes and Kai told her what to say - "Phasmatos Tribum, Melan Veras"

She repeated the spell back to him, breathing in and out slowly "Phasmatos Tribum, Melan Veras" "Phasmatos Tribum, Melan Veras" "Phasmatos Tribum, Melan Veras" She opened an eye to peak out as if it was doing anything. She could see a dead flower, slowly starting to come back to life. " Phasmatos Tribum, Melan Veras" "Phasmatos Tribum, Melan Veras" "Kai! It's working! I did it! Its..." She opened both eyes and looked over in Kais direction. He had a shocked look on his face and started to make choking noises. She looked down to where his hands were now on his stomach and he slowly moved them away exposing a deep red patch on his shirt.

"Kai! Kai what happened?!" She crawled over to where he was and helped him lay back on the grass. Blood was flowing from what she could now see was a wound in his stomach. 'Kai. What do I do? Tell me what to do!!!" She screamed at him. His face was becoming more and more paler. Suddenly she remember what Caroline has said about feeding her her blood when she'd been injured that night. She looked at her wrist, exposing her fangs and biting down drawing blood. She held her wrist to Kai's mouth. "Drink Kai. Please." She pleaded. His hands slowly came to her arm and she could feel him drinking her blood, his eyelids fluttering open and shut. When he stopped, she lifted him up and vampire sped him back into the house.

'Damon! Damon!" she shouted at the top of her voice.  
'What? Whats happened?" He ran into the hallway, helping her lift Kai into the sitting room and onto the sofa.  
Kai still had his eyes shut. She lifted his shirt and swiped some of the blood away from his stomach. The wound was completely healed.   
Damon took over and started slapping Kai around the face "Come on jerk face, wake up." He gave him a hard shake and Kai opened his eyes in shock, taking in a huge breath.

He looked over at Emily. Confused, but grateful.  
"What happened?" Damon looked over at Emily.  
"I have no idea. We were doing spells, and suddenly..."  
"Liv... It was Liv."  
"Wait. What? There was no-one else there with us Kai." Emily said, unsure of what he meant.  
"She was there. She was cloaked but it was definitely her." He shifted himself on the sofa and sat up. "Thankyou Emily. I'd be dead if you handn't given me your blood." He looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face.  
"Of course. I mean, I was hardly going to leave you to die was I?!" She let out a nervous laugh.  
"You could have done. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had to be honest." He had an almost sad look on his face now. Not an expression Emily had ever seen on Kai before or ever expected to see.  
"Well. I guess you're lucky I always see the best in people" She fiddled with her fingers in her lap.  
"I guess I am" He smiled "I supposed I'd better go get a clean shirt now. This ones kind of ruined" He laughed. Always making light of any situation as usual she thought to herself. He stood from the sofa and disappeared from the room.

'So, do you want to tell me what happened outside?" Damon looked over at her, an accusing look on his face.  
"We were doing spells and Liv attacked him. You know wha...."  
"I mean before that. I told you I'd be listening in to make sure you were safe. You know there's no chance of him ever being a half decent human don't you? You can try as much as you like, but it ain't ever gonna happen. He's bad. He was born bad and will alway be bad."  
Emily couldn't disagree, but she'd seen something in Kai today. Something that made her wonder if deep down, there was a good person in there. She kept it to herself though. 

"I know.. you're right.." She sighed, laying back on the sofa. Suddenly the front door slammed shut and her and Damon looked at each other. "Do you think he heard that?" She asked. "Who cares if he did. It's not like it would hurt his feelings or anything. He's not gone anyway!" Damon dismissed. But Emily wasn't too sure about that. And now she was worried about how Kai was going to react...


	11. Hunger

Emily sat in her room, twirling a pen between her fingers, her journal in front of her. She hadn't written in it recently but she felt the need to after the last few days. But as much as she tried to she kept getting distracted by her thoughts.

Had she really upset Kai earlier when she was speaking to Damon? Surely Damon was right. Kai couldn't care less what anyone thought of him. He was a sociopath and lacked all the normal human emotions, including worrying what other people thought. 

She shrugged the thought off but it still kept coming back to her. She had a sudden urge to speak to him. To apologise. Why should she apologise to him? He had killed at least 5 people that she knew of, including Luke in the merge. Attempted to kill numerous others and probably had killed many more. Yet she was feeling bad for possibly upsetting him? Yet again, this side of her was taking over and would likely just end up getting her into trouble.

She finally started writing and spent the next half hour pouring out everything that had happened recently, including Kai. Why did she keep thinking about him? Sure, he'd helped her out a bit, but as people keep telling her, he only ever helps if there's something in it for him.

She finished writing and placed the journal under her pillow. She wandered downstairs and to Damon who was sat in the kitchen talking to Elena.

"Damon?" She said as she approached the breakfast bar and smiled at Elena, receiving a smile in return.  
"Yes?" He always sounded like he didn't have the time or patience to talk to her. Especially when Elena was there.  
"Where does Kai go?"  
"Huh?" He looked at her in confusion.  
"I mean, when he's not here. Where does he go? His family home is miles away. He doesn't seem to drive anywhere. Where does he actually go when he isn't here?"  
"No idea. Why do you care anyway?" He glanced at her with a curious look in his face. 

"Don't tell me you're still feeling bad about earlier? Look. Him coming here and helping you out, we can deal with." He nodded towards Elena who nodded in agreement. "But if you seriously think it's a good idea to go out into the big wide world in search of him so you can apologise and make you're self feel better, you have another thing coming."  
Emily furrowed her brows at Damon and looked to Elena. "I just wanted to make sure I hadn't upset him earlier."  
"Upset him? Emily, he doesn't have any emotions. He's unlikely to have been upset. And even if he were, why would you care anyway?" Elena said.  
"Because her and the weasel connected yesterday." Damon shrugged and let out a snort.  
"We didn't connect Damon. In fact he confirmed yesterday that he wasn't ever likely to be a nice person. I just have this thing where I hate knowing that I've said or done something to upset people."  
"Well, my dear. That is something you really need to get over because it's likely to get you killed if you keep this up." He rolled his eyes at Emily. Clearly he didn't understand as he couldn't care less who he upsets on a day to day basis. 

Emily grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and walked out of the kitchen.  
"I need some fresh air. I'll be back in a bit" she called over her shoulder.  
"Sure. Don't forget to call us when you get yourself into a situation you can't get out of." He winked at her knowingly.

Emily pulled on her boots and stepped outside. The sun was shining just like this morning but there was a slight breeze lifting the leaves from the ground. It reminded me of what had happened earlier. She had felt so calm and relaxed lying there in the sun with Kai beside her. With a sociopath beside her, she reminded herself yet again.

She kept running through her head the different places Kai might be. His sister Jo's maybe? No. She wouldn't entertain him. She continued walking, popping her earphones in and playing some music as she walked, enjoying the warm sun in her skin. She'd been walking for a while and she realised she was just outside the Mystic Grill. Maybe? Probably not. But she needed a drink after all that walking and this was the perfect place to go.

She walked in through the doors and found herself a seat. The server approached her a few seconds later.  
"Good afternoon miss. What can I get for you today?"  
"Just a lemonade please" she smiled up at the young man taking her order and he smiled back, jotting down her order and thanking her before walking away.

"Well that's a pretty pitiful order. I at least expected you to order a burger or some fries!" She recognised the voice coming from behind her and lifted her head up looking in that direction. Kai. He was sat at the bar with a smirk on his face. He looked tired. He jumped down from the bar stool and sat down on the chair in front of her, putting his hand in the hair and clicking his fingers to get the servers attention.   
"Kai. Don't do that. It's rude!" She swatted his hand down and he chuckled to himself.

The young man approached the table, smiling at Emily again then looking over to Kai. "Yes sir. How can I help?" He deposited Emily's lemonade in front of her.  
"Yea. Okay. Beer. Burger. No no. Two beers, three burgers. Are the fries here good? I remember them being a little soggy. Oh and a hotdog! A hotdog. Is that... is that crazy? Whatever... I'll do it. Dog me." He grins up at the guy standing in front of him who currently had a look of total confusion in his face. 

"He'll just have a burger and some fries please." Emily said smiling up at the man who smiled back and then walked away.   
"Heeeey! I'm hungry!"  
Emily rolled her eyes at him and took a sip of her lemonade.

"So, what brings you here then?" He said, sliding Emily's lemonade towards him and twirling the straw in it before taking a sip.  
"You really have zero boundaries, do you?" She huffed, pulling her glass back towards her.  
"Nope." He popped the p and gave a dashing grin. "Well? Why are you her?"  
"I needed a drink" she said, very matter of fact.  
"Oooookay..." he resigned to the fact she wasn't going to give him any more than that for now.

A few minutes of silence later, the waiter brought over Kais food and he started devouring it immediately.  
"Someone's hungry."  
"Starving!" He said through a mouth full of food. He swallowed and started talking again. "After 18 years in prison world with free access to all the food and drink you want, it's a bit of a downer coming back to the real world and having to pay for everything!" He laughed. "So, thanks for this" he said, gesturing towards his food.  
"Oh, so you're assuming I'M paying for your food?! This very presumptuous of your..."   
he looked up at her and smiled chuckling to himself.

Emily's stomach started to grumble and she wished she'd ordered food too now. She reached across and grabbed a couple of fries from the basket in front of Kai and as she did his slapped her hand away "Boundaries Emily..." he muttered with a grin.  
"Well I think I'd in paying for this..." she gestured to the food in front of him "then boundaries don't really count!" She grabbed another handful and shovelled the fries into her mouth, grinning at him.

"So. You going to tell me why you're here? Because I know you didn't just walk all the way here for a drink." He continued to fill his mouth with food.  
"I was looking for you actually..." she mumbled, barely audible but he heard her just fine. He stopped eating for a second and swallowed his food, wiping his hands on a napkin. He looked at her with a slightly confused look on his face. "You were looking for me? Why? Did your friends not warn you how dangerous I am?" He looked genuinely concerned for her safety, which she thought was pretty ironic considering he was the only danger to her currently.

"They did. But you just disappeared earlier and I thought I may have said something to upset you, and..."  
He snorted. "Upset me? How could you upset me? I don't have emotions Emily. I don't get upset."  
"But you stormed out of the house yesterday after you heard Damon and I talking about how..."  
"How I would never change? How I was irredeemable? Do you really think I haven't heard it all before Emily?" 

She could see the anger creeping over his face. She hadn't seen it before but she could feel the energy radiating from him. How could she feel his anger? How was that even possible?  
She shivered as she felt her body going hot and cold.  
"I... I..."  
He laughed, but if wasn't he's usual playful laugh. It was full of hurt and anger.   
"Kai. Please stop." Her head was starting to hurt now. How was he doing this? Had he managed to siphon some magic from somewhere and was using it on her?  
He looked at her confused and slightly worried. Her headache eased up and the shivering stopped.

"I wasn't doing anything. What did you mean when you said stop?" He looked at her in confusion.  
"I could feel your anger. My head was pounding and I kept feeling hot and cold and shivery." She frowned looking down at the table.  
"You felt my emotions." he said. Looking down at the table too, twirling a fry in his fingers.  
"How's that even possible Kai?" Her brows knitted together as she glanced at him.  
"I have absolutely no idea..." he shifted in his seat uncomfortably and stood up. "Thanks for the food. Catch you later." He didn't even look at her as he walked away from the table and out of The Grill. Yet again leaving Emily alone and confused. 

How had she felt his emotions when he apparently doesn't have any?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying reading...! This is going to be. SUPER slow burn. I think I enjoy those types of stories the most to be honest as you get to see the relationship really develop and see the ups and downs. Emily and Kai have definitely had several of those so far...!  
> If you're enjoying, please vote and I'd love to hear some comments too! 💗  
> More chapters coming in the next day or so hopefully.


	12. Betrayal

Emily arrived back at the Salvatore house before night fall. She'd taken her time walking back, trying to get everything that had just happened straight in her head. How was it possible to feel Kai's emotions when they were sat in The Grill? She knew her powers were emotion based but this was completely new. Was this something she could only do with Kai, or with everyone? She'd messaged the girls on her way home and asked them all to meet her at the house. She needed answers.

As she stepped inside she could hear the chatter coming from the sitting room. As she entered she saw Caroline and Elena both chatting with the Salvatore brothers and Bonnie sat on the floor surrounded by books. As she walked further into the room she spotted the back of a familiar figure. She would recognise those broad strong shoulders and dark hair anywhere.

"Kai? What are you doing here?" He turned to look at her and started walking towards her.  
"I came here as soon as I left The Grill. Thought it was a good idea to try and figure out what's going on with you."  
"Did you tell everyone what happened?" She asked, glancing around the rooms at her friends who were now watching her and Kai talk.  
"Briefly, yes." He shifted from one foot to the other, looking down at his feet. He looked uncomfortable. Emily grabbed hold of Kai's wrist and led him out into the hallway.  
"What's up?" She asked him. He continued to look at the floor. "Kai?" She touched him gently on the shoulder and he flinched, looking up at her. He looked worried. Terrified even.

"What is it Kai? Is it something bad?" She asked him.  
"You could say that." He mumbled.  
All sorts of things started running through her mind. Was she dangerous? Would she pose a danger to her friends and family? What could be so bad that Kai was acting like this?  
"Well.... are you going to tell me? If it's something really bad I need to know. I..."  
"No no. It's nothing to do with your powers." He stared at her, that same worried look still on his face.  
"Then what?! What is so awful that you look absolutely terrified?"

"I think I'm feeling things. Emotions. There's something wrong with me. I was sat there last night, after what happened with Luke, and all I could think about was him and Liv and how I've ruined her life. And all of a sudden water started oozing from my eyeballs like I was some alien creature excreting fluids."  
"You cried?" She questioned. Trying to refrain herself from chuckling at his description.  
"I guess that's what it is. Yes. I thought it was a one off, but then earlier in The Grill... and this morning when I heard you and Damon talking. I've felt anger before. Of course I have. I wouldn't be the way I am without that. But this kind of anger was different. I felt..."  
"Sad? Disappointed?"  
"I think so. God. What's wrong with me?!"

"Nothings wrong with you Kai. They're things normal humans feel on a regular basis."  
"Well I feel sorry for you if you feel like this all the time. It's horrible!" He walked to the sink and grabbed a glass of water, gulping if down. Emily started to get the same feeling again as she felt when they were in The Grill. Her stomach felt like it was burning and doing somersaults. She felt hot and cold and her head started to hurt.

"I don't want to feel like this! It needs to stop! If I feel like this I'm weak and I can NOT be weak!" His voice was becoming louder and Emily's head felt like if was about to explode. She grasped her head in her hands and begged him to stop - "Kai. Please. You're hurting me. Please calm down"  
"No! I want to hurt you! If I hurt you, then maybe I can go back to normal again and stop feeling this way!" He was still holding the glass in his hand when all of a sudden it exploded, sending shards of glass flying across the room and some into his hand. "Shit!" He shouted and the others all came running into the room to see what was going on.

"Emily! Are you okay?!" Caroline ran over the girl, wrapping her arms around her. She looked into her eyes and she could see she had lots of tiny burst blood vessels in her eyes. Within seconds they had healed.   
"What did you do to her Kai?!" She shouted in his direction, storming towards him.  
"Caroline. Stop. He didn't mean to...."  
"Yes I did! I wanted to hurt you! I still want to hurt you!" He ran towards Emily, wrapping his hand around her throat.

She said nothing. She just stared at him with a pleading look in her eyes. Tears, streaming down her face. Damon vamp sped over to them but Emily raised her hand, freezing him to the spot. The others tried to help too but no one could move. All they could do was watch. Just stand and watch as their friend was about to be killed in front of them.

"Kai..." she croaked. Struggling to breath. She could see the red glow coming from his hand, then the pain as he drew her magic from her body. He was trying hard to will himself to finish what he'd started. If he did this.... If he killed the one person who seemed to be bringing out all kinds of emotions in him, surely this pain would finally stop, right?

"Kai..."  
"Shut up!" He screamed in her face. His hot breath on her. The burning sensation running through her body. She began to feel weaker and weaker. All he had to do was drain every last bit of her magic and she would be dead. That's all he had to do.

He suddenly stopped pulling the magic from her body. He couldn't do it. He couldn't harm her. What was wrong with him? He screamed at himself, hitting himself in the head to try and knock some sense into himself.  
She knew if she wanted she could easily throw him off her. She was a vampire. She was stronger than him. He hadn't even thought of that at the time. All he wanted to do was hurt her, but she knew he wouldn't. 

Suddenly he let go of her. She let out a big gasp and grabbed her throat, breathing in and out heavily. She had gone a light grey colour but it was fading and the normal colour was coming back to her skin. She was crouched over on the floor but looking up at him. He looked so lost. He wouldn't look at her. He couldn't. He knew what he had just done and that she might never forgive him. She looked down at the floor catching her breath and when she looked up again, he was gone and her three female friends were stood over her.

"Where did he go?" She asked, glancing all around the room to see if he was there.   
"Don't worry about him Emily. Are you okay?" Bonnie said, crouching down beside her friend.  
"I'm fine. Where is he?" She asked.  
"Damon and Stefan have taken him down to the basement to cool off." She replied.  
Emily let out a quiet sigh of relief.  
"I need to speak to him" she said.   
"You don't need to do anything of the sort Emily! He just tried to kill you!" Elena interjected. The three girls were all looking at her in confusion. None of them understood. 

Kai was scared. Terrified even. He saw any kind of emotions as weak, and she had been seeing those emotions in him. But he just tried to kill her. She had trusted him not to hurt her and he was so close to ending her life just a few minutes ago.

She stood and ran up to her room, locking the door behind her. Throwing herself onto her bed and bursting into tears. What the hell was she supposed to do now?

\--------------------------------------------------------------

Kai's POV

I couldn't do it. Why couldn't I do it? She's nothing to me. I murdered most of my own family without a second thought, yet this girl I've only known for a few days... I couldn't hurt her. I'd known since the merge with Luke that something was weird about me. But today just confirmed it. I must have inherited some of Lukes characteristics. Some of his emotions. His empathy for others. Empathy was something I'd never experienced in my life. Or a least I couldn't remember ever experiencing it. And remorse. I was feeling remorse for scaring her. For hurting her. For trying to kill her. 

She could have easily killed me. She could have pushed me off her with little effort and finished me off. But she didn't. Why didn't she? Why did she let me hurt her? Maybe she knew deep down that I wouldn't kill her? I don't know. I just don't know what I even am anymore!

\--------------------------------------------------------------

"Right you piece of shit. You'd better explain to me RIGHT NOW what just happened?" Damon was in Kai's face now. Damon and Stefan had tied him to a chair in the basement. Both brothers were infront of him, their faces full of anger.

"You'd better start talking Kai. I don't know how long I can hold my brother back from killing you." Stefan said. He genuinely looked concerned that Damon was about to unleash hell on Kai there and then.  
"I don't know what happened." Kai said refusing to tell the brothers anything he was feeling.  
"Right. That's it. You're done you little weasel." Damon bared his fangs and went to lunge at Kais neck.  
"Wait wait!" Kai panicked throwing his hands up to protect himself. Damon stepped back and crossed his arms.  
"You'd better hurry up and explain" He said to Kai.

Kai spent the next half hour going over everything that had happened since the merge. How he thinks he's taken on Luke's qualities. How he's worried that it will make him weak. How he never really wanted to hurt Emily.

"So, you're telling us you now have emotions? That you can actually feel bad about things?" Stefan asked him.  
"Yes Stefano. I thought I just covered this." Kai was getting fed up with repeating himself now. All he wanted to do was get out of the basement and go and check on Emily. Why did he want to check on her? He wasn't supposed to care how she was feeling!  
"Look, I need to speak to her. I need to tell her I'm sorry for what I did." He said.  
"I'd be very surprised if she wants anything to do with you after the little stunt you just pulled buddy. You almost drained her completely. A few more seconds and she would have been well and truly dead." Damon huffed.  
"I know. I just... I need to speak to her. Please."

Damon looked over at Stefan. They both stepped out of the room and he could hear them arguing.  
"There's no way he can be around her ever again. I won't let him." Damon said.  
"Just let him speak to her. We may be able to use this to our advantage. Don't forget that video Bonnie showed us after she managed to escape the prison world. Our Mother is over there. He may be our chance of getting her back."  
Damon sighed, and seemed to almost agree with what Stefan was saying. They both walked back into the room. "Fine. You can speak to her. If she even wants to speak to you that is. But you need to do something for us." Damon said, glaring at Kai.  
"You want me to help you bring Mumsy back, right? If you can get Emily to speak to me, it's a deal." he agreed.


	13. Who Am I?

For the fifth time that evening, Damon was stood outside her room, trying to persuade her to come out and speak to Kai. He hadn't mentioned anything about the fact that Kai had offered to help bring his Mother back if Emily spoke to him. That would probably make her more angry, knowing she was being used as a bargaining tool.

"Please Emily, The guy just wants to apologise, that's all. Let him say his bit then he can go and not come back again. You never have to see him again."

Emily sat on her bed, her journal in front of her which she had been writing in for the past hour. She tucked the journal under her pillow and sighed to herself. She couldn't stay locked in here forever, avoiding Kai. But she didn't want to speak to him. Not now at least. What she needed was to get out of this house. Get away from the claustraphobic feeling of people crowding her, wondering if she's okay, wondering what's actually wrong with her. She was like a bomb about to explode and she had to get out.

She opened the bedroom door to see Damon standing there, about to knock yet again. "Finally!" he let out an over-exaggerated sigh. "Now, just go listen to what he has to say and we can get on with everything."  
"No."  
Damon looked at her, a confused look on his face.  
"What do you mean, no?" He looked pissed.  
Emily pushed past him and down the stairs into the sitting room. Her friends were all sat there, and Kai. She didn't look at him. She walked into the room and saw him stand up ready to walk towards her, expecting her to let him speak. She just held her hand up in his face. "I'm NOT here to speak to you." He backed away, nodding his head, sitting back down.

"Girls" she said, turning to her three female friends. "I need to get out of here. Who's going to join me for a drink?" All three girls started mumbling different things, but mostly all saying that it wasn't a good idea to leave the house.  
"Fine! If no one wants to come with me, I'll go myself!" She walked back upstairs slamming the door behind her and started getting ready. She pulled on a leather skirt and one of her favourite tops. She did her makeup quickly, applying red lipstick to her lips. She was going to make the most of this whole Vampire situation whether the others liked it or not. She buckled her high heels at the ankle and pulled on her favourite leather jacket, giving herself a quick glance in the mirror before leaving her room.

As she walked down the stairs, everyone came running to the bottom, attempting to dissuade her from leaving. Bonnie grabbed her arm as she walked towards the door. She looked at her friend, about to say something then she stopped herself. "Just be careful Em, okay?"  
"I'll be fine Bonnie. I just need some space."

She stepped out of the front door, quickly glancing behind to see all her friends standing there still. And him. That handsome, rogueish face, staring back at her. She saw the briefest of smiles on his lips before she turned and left.

She walked into the bar alone. Feeling exposed. She never went drinking without her friends. She probably should have stayed home, but she just couldn't bare to be stuck there any longer. She climbed up onto a bar stool and waved the bartender over. "Tequila please. Three."  
"No problem. Waiting on friends?" He smiled and asked.  
"Nope. Just little old me, on my own, drinking shots of tequila!" She laughed to herself. She was so pathetic... Alone in a bar, drinking tequila. 

She pulled out her phone to see several messages from her friends. All checking she was okay. She ignored them. Let them worry, she thought. She was tired of thinking about everyone elses feelings all the time. As she was about to put her phone back in her pocket she heard a ping. She looked down at her phone. There was a message from a number she didn't recognised. As she opened the message to read she knew who it was straight away. 

"Hey. I know you don't want to speak to me and I don't blame you, but I just need to explain. Let me know where you are and we can talk. Please. P.S You looked really lovely."  
She sighed to herself. He must have got her number from one the others. She shoved her phone back into her pocket, ignoring the message.

3 tequilas later, she already felt pretty tipsy. She ordered a water to quench her thirst. Just after the bartender brought it over to her, her phone started ringing. She looked at the screen - Stefan. She didn't want to speak to anyone, but Stefan at least understood how she was feeling and probably just genuinely wanted to make sure she was okay. She hesitantly answered. "Stefan. What do you want?"  
"Hey. I just wanted to check in on you. You've not been replying to anyones messages and they're all a bit worried. Is everything okay?"  
"Yup! All perfect. I'm sat in a bar, drinking tequila alone like the loser I am" she chuckled to herself.  
"Okay. Just.... take it easy okay. We all want you back in one piece."  
"I'm fine Stefan. I super powerful remember. I can protect myself. I don't need you guys looking out for me all the time."  
"I know Emily, but you don't have full control of your powers yet. Just... be careful okay?"  
"I will be. Bye Stefan" She hung up the phone and jumped down from her stool. She needed some fresh air.

As she stepped outside into the street it suddenly brought back memories of everything that had happened. That first night, being attacked in the alleyway, then being turned into a Vampire. Waking up the next morning her room engulfed in flames which she had caused in her sleep. All the moments after that Kai had spent trying to help her get control of her powers. Trying to figure out what her powers even were. No. She shook the thoughts away, remembering what had just happened earlier. He had tried to kill her. He wasn't a good person.

She looked up to see someone walking past her. He was a good looking guy. Dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He smiled as he walked past and she smiled back. She was hungry. With everything that had been happening, she had barely had any blood since she turned. She felt absolutely starving. The handsome man turned towards her.  
"Hey. Whats a pretty thing like you doing all on your own?" He asked her.  
"Well, I'm not on my own anymore, am I?" she smirked at him.  
She quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the alleyway behind the bar.

"Whoa. Okay....!" He laughed, pulling her towards him.  
Their lips crashed together and she bit down slightly on his bottom lip, drawing blood. As soon as she tasted it, she wanted more. She felt the veins appearing under her eyes and her fangs pierced the thin skin on his neck. He cried out in pain, but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. She wanted to drain him dry.

Suddenly there were strong arms around her waist pulling her backwards. She turned to push the person away then realised who it was. Kai.  
"What are you doing here Kai? Can't you see I'm busy?" She shouted in his face angrily.  
"I can see that Emily. But I don't think you really want to do this. You're not a killer." He looked worriedly into her eyes.   
"Yes, I am. Look at me!" She bared her fangs to him and the veins appeared under her eyes again. "I'm a monster!" she shouted. He didn't look scared of her. He just looked at her with a soft smile on his face.  
"No. You're not. You are NOT a monster Emily." He put his hands on either of her shoulders. "You are one of the most loyal, caring, honest people I've ever met. WHAT you are, doesn't define WHO you are. You know that better than anyone Emily."  
There was a soothing tone to his voice. She felt a warm feeling in her belly and a wave of calm washed over her. With that she collapsed into his arms, sobbing. "I don't know who I am anymore Kai...."  
"Well, then we need to find out." He said, cautiously placing an arm around her, gently stroking her hair that fell down her back. "Come on. Lets get you home..."


	14. Protection

The taxi pulled up infront of the Salvatore Boarding House and Kai stepped out, helping Emily climb out of her seat. When they entered the house it was quiet. She looked around but none of her friends were there.

'They all went over to the girls dorm for a bit. They said they'd be back later on." He muttered, noticing she was confused by the lack of people in the house.  
She shrugged off her jacket and threw it on the stair bannister. "Of course..." She mumbled. Clearly this was some sort of ruse to get her and Kai to talk. But she still didn't feel ready to do that.

"I found something while you were out" He said, guiding her into the sitting room. There were books everywhere. She walked over and sat down on the sofa after grabbing a glass of bourbon from Damons drinks trolley. Kai grabbed one for himself and sat on the sofa beside her leaving plenty of space between the two of them.

'What did you find?" she asked as she turned to him.  
"I think I know what you are."  
"Well, I'm a heretic aren't I? A witch and a vampire?"  
"Sure, but your powers... They're not normal witch powers. They're something else. Something special."  
"Oh?" she looked at him in confusion. A few days ago she was just a normal human being, now she was some crazy special witch who also happened to be a vampire.

"I think you're something called an Empath Witch. They can produce magic just from their emotions. Different emotions give off different reactions. Such as when you've been angry and..."  
"Things explode... " she laughed. It kind of made sense now.  
"It pretty cool really. There are only records of a small handfil of other Empath Witches, and you seem to be the only one that is a Siphon. You're pretty unique!" He looked at her and smiled. She glanced away. Still unsure of how she should be acting around him. 

He gently put a hand on her wrist.  
"Emily. I really am sorry. You know I wouldn't have hurt your eariler. My emotions got the best of me and I over reacted."  
"When people over react they throw something or slam a door Kai. They don't try to end someones life."

"I guess I've never really learnt how to control my emotions... The only thing I recall ever feeling is anger, and none of my family ever helped me figure out how to deal with that." He looked down at the floor. She shifted slightly closer to him and he continued. "My Dad, wasn't the most caring person. The coven always came first. Even before family. And I... I was just a freak in his eyes. He turned my entire family against me. I wasn't even allowed to touch anyone. No hugs... nothing. I know it's no excuse and worse things happen to people and they don't flip out and murder their family like I did." He let out a nervous laugh. Emily continued to listen to him intently. "My Mum, she was the only one who ever really tried to understand me. But she died when I was in my teens and all I had left was a family who despised me. No birthdays. I was excluded from everything. I spent most of my time in my room, getting more and more angry. Then one day, I finally flipped and it happened." Emily put her hand on top of Kais. He glanced up at her. Slightly confused by the fact that someone would willingly touch him.

"Thankyou for telling me your story Kai. It really means a lot." She smiled at him and he smiled back.  
"So anyway, we now know what you are. Now we need to figure out WHO you are." he said. She didn't understand what he meant by that statement.

"What do you mean?" She asked.  
"We need to find out who your coven is. If we can find them, we can get more answers for you."  
She sat silent for a few seconds. Her coven. Her family. The family she had never met...

———————————————————————————

The next morning, Emily was stood in the kitchen with Kai. Damon and Stefan were there and the girls were all there two. There was a huge amount of tension in the air after Emily and Kai had explained what Kai had discovered last night, and then Kai dropped the bombshell that they would be taking a road trip together to Portland to try and get more information from the Gemini coven. That didn't go down very well with Damon to say the least.

"So you're telling me you want to traipse all the way across the country with a self proclaimed sociopath who only hours ago tried to kill you... to meet his likely equally crazy family...."  
"Coven..." Kai interjected. Damon raised his hand in Kai's face.  
"COVEN.... to try and figure out where you came from? Possibly find the family who gave you up when you were a baby who may not want ANYTHING to do with you?" Damon ranted, not taking his eyes off Emily the whole time. "And you're all perfectly fine with this ridiculous situation??" He asked, pointing at the others standing around them.  
"Damon. She's proven time and again she's more than capable of looking after herself. She's a vampire and what's already been shown to be a powerful witch, despite her not having full control of her powers yet. I very much doubt she want put herself in a situation she wasn't fully comfortable with" Bonnie said to Damon.

Emily wasn't sure whether she was comfortable with the idea of spending several days with just Kai for company, but she needed to do this and he was the only one who could get her the answers she needed.  
"Fine. But you come back within the week. If you're not back within that time I will personally come and hunt you down and rip your heart out. Got it?" He was right in Kai's face now, pointing at him. Kai just stood staring back, not flinching once at the tirade Damon had just laid upon him. How was he so chilled out all the time?!

"Got it." He replied nonchalantly, rolling his eyes at the same time. With that, Damon grabbed the collar of his shirt and shoved him up against the wall.  
"You don't ever lay a hand on her or I swear to go...."  
Kai was looking slightly less chill now. He held his hands up in submission. "I swear I will not harm a hair on her head Damon. I've got no reason to. All I want to do is help her find out where she comes from. There's really nothing even in it for me." He replied. Damon let go of him and his feet hit the floor.  
"That's what I'm worried about. You always have a reason for doing something. ALWAYS." Damon left the room and Kai straightened his shirt up and turned to Emily.

"You ready to hit the road then partner?" He winked at her.  
"I'm not your partner.... and yes, I'm ready." She grabbed her hold-all from the floor and gave each of her friends a hug goodbye.  
"Stay safe Em" Elena said, hugging her friend tightly. "Any problems, you let us know straight away, okay?" Caroline said, pushing into the hug so there were now three of them squished together. 

Bonnie squeezed her way in and whispered in Emily's ear. "Wear this bracelet. It's been charmed so we can see where you are at all times. The only person who can remove it is me..." she placed a small gold bracelet on Emily's wrist and gave her a small peck on the cheek.

She walked over to Stefan and smiled at him.  
"Any problems, you have my number. Damon and I will be there in a shot okay?"  
"Got it, thanks Stefan." She gave him a quick hug and walked out of the room.

"Geez... you'd think you were off to face your imminent death of something." He chuckled.  
She sighed and rolled her eyes, wondering if it was really so far from the truth.


	15. Highway To Hell

Emily and Kai had been on the road for a few hours and she was already regretting agreeing to this.  
"So, of course I got into the oval office and took some photos, then I realised, where was I going to get photos developed?!" He laughed to himself. Emily let out a groan. She'd had to endure over 3 hours of Kai telling her about how he would spend his days when he was stuck in the prison world. She had heard at least 10 different ways he had tried to kill himself whilst there. He even went into great detail about one time when he found a guillotine in a museum and thought that might work. It didn't. Obviously. He explained how he had taught himself to fly, how he'd taught himself to cook. They still had at least another day of driving and she was already losing the will to live.

"And then..." He was still babbling. Emily closed her eyes, trying to switch off from his constant talking. Suddenly she heard her stomach growl. She opened her eyes and he glanced over at her, chuckling.  
"Do you think we could maybe stop for something to eat?" she asked him. Her stomach growling loudly again.  
"Sure. There's a stop just a few kilometres away. We can grab some food and take a breather?"   
She nodded in response.  
"You've been very quiet." He said, looking at her with a very slight look of worry on his face.  
"I'm not a very talkative person." she muttered.  
"Yeah, well, I know that's not true. Whats up?" His eyes were trained on the road ahead now, but he looked genuinely concerned.  
"I don't know... Maybe the fact that I'm in the car with a sociopathic murderer, heading to a place I've never been to find out about a family I've never known?"  
His eyes stayed on the road but he started frowning.  
"Sorry. I didn't mean..." she started.  
"No. It's fine. I get it."

That was the last thing he said to her until a short while later when they arrived at a diner by the side of the road.  
It was a cute little traditional diner. They didn't have anything like this in Mystic Falls. She smiled as she looked around. Young and old couples sharing milkshakes and fries, groups of friends enjoying each others company. Then there was her and Kai. Sure, they'd become relatively friendly over the past few days, but she still couldn't trust him. She wouldn't consider him her friend. Not even close.

"So, what do you fancy?" He asked her, snapping her out of her train of thought. They found a booth by the window and slid in on opposite sides of the table.  
She picked up the menu from the middle of the table and started scanning over it, still not saying anything to Kai. Suddenly she felt Kai's hand pull hers down so the menu was no longer in front of her face.  
"I don't know. I'm still thinking."  
"I can see that..." he mumbled.  
A few seconds later a waitress approached their table with pen and pad in hand.  
"What can I get you two kids today?" she asked with a great big smile on her face.  
"I'll have a burger and some fries please!" Kai responded enthusiastically, giving an extremely forced grin back.  
"And for your beautiful girlfriend?" She asked, looking over towards Emily.  
"I'm not...." she began, but Kai interrupted. "She'll have the same please. And we'll have a strawberry milkshake to share too please. Thank you!" He gave her the same huge grin again and looked over at Emily who was sat silently with a shocked expression on her face. He winked at her and smiled.

As the waitress left their table, Emily leaned over towards Kai with a very pissed off look on your face.  
"Please don't go around telling people I'm your girlfriend. I'm not even close. I'm not even your...."  
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I just thought it was funny." He held his hands up in submission.  
'Well, it wasn't funny." She huffed. Looking back down at the table. She picked up the salt shaker and started pouring a small pile out onto the table. She then proceeded to draw patterns in it with her finger.  
"Did you need me to ask the nice lady for a colouring book? Something to keep your occupied?" He smirked. She ignored him and continued making patterns. "Are you seriously going to ignore me this whole trip? Because if so, I may have to find something to do to amuse myself." he grinned.  
"Knock yourself out...." she growled.

A few minutes of silence later, the waitress came back to their table and deposited the plates of food in front of them, along with the milkshake Kai had ordered.  
They both thanked the waitress, who gave them a knowing smile and then walked away.  
Kai leant fowards and took a sip of the milkshake, leaving it in the middle of the table so Emily could have some too.  
"I'm not sharing a milkshake with you Kai...." She said, picking up a fry and shoving it into her mouth.  
He shrugged his shoulders "More for me then I guess."

Once they both finished their food, Kai paid the waitress, leaving a tip. They walked outside and towards the car. Still in silence.  
"Look. I know you're not happy about having to spend time with me. I get it. But can we at least try and make some kind of small talk? Tell me a bit about yourself. I've told you plenty about me, but I know nothing about you." He suggested as they both climbed into the car.  
"There's not a lot to know really. I was adopted when I was a baby. I had a pretty normal life up until recently. You already know all of this." She slumped down in the seat and kicked off her shoes, putting her feet up on the dashboard.  
"Lets play a game..." He suggested, starting the engine.  
"What kind of game?" she asked him suspiciously.  
"20 questions. I ask you a question, you answer, you ask me question, I answer..."  
"I know how to play 20 questions Kai" she sighed. "Fine.Go on then." She needed something to take her mind off everything, and if it meant having to answer Kais lame questions, she would do it.

"How old are you?" Kai asked.  
Emily looked at Kai and furrowed her brows. "I'm 21. I assumed you already knew that?"  
"I guess it's not come up in conversation before?"  
"Okay... When did you learn to drive?" She asked.  
"I didn't. Taught myself in prison world." She looked at him, shocked. She was about to open her mouth to respond when he cut her off. "I'm kidding. I did drivers ed in high school." He chuckled.  
"Funny..." she huffed back at him.

"Who are your family? Your adoptive family I mean."  
"My Dad is Adam. He's a doctor. My Mum, Mia is a nurse. I've got an adoptive brother, George who's 19." She started fiddling with something on the door next to her, thinking about George and how much she was missing him. They'd been best friends growing up. Now she was miles away and he had no idea what was going on with her at the moment.  
"Quite the caring family then?" He questioned, noticing how she was deep in thought.  
"Yeah, I guess so. Mum and Dad were both working a lot. I spent a lot of time just me and George."  
"You two get on really well then?" he asked her. She glanced over at him and his face had an unreadable expression on it. She wondered whether he was thinking about his brothers and sisters and the relationship, or lack of, that he had with all of them.  
"Yeah. We were pretty much inseparable through school. He would always stick up for me, especially in high school when..." She cut herself off.  
"You had a bit of a crap time at high school didn't you?" He asked her.  
"It wasn't the best. Lots of people took advantage of my kindness." she started to play around with her hair. Something she always did when she felt uncomfortable or anxious.  
"Sure. I get it. One of the reasons I try to be so selfish. Being kind only ever causes weakness."  
There was a brief silence and she looked over at him.  
"Do you really believe that Kai? Do you honestly believe that showing kindness can only cause you misery?" she questioned. Her eyebrows knitting together in a frown. He didn't look at her. His eyes were still fixed on the road.  
"From experience. Yes." He said flatly.  
She wondered what he meant. Surely he didn't have too much experience of showing kindness to people? She ignored his response and carried on with her next question.

"Favourite food?" She asked him.  
His face lit up with that question. "Ooooooh... I don't even know the answer to that one! That's a hard question Emily. I mean, I LOVE jelly. Grape jelly in particular. Oh, but cupcakes... Cupcakes are SO yummy... I could quite happily live off just cupcakes. And fries. Fries... How I missed fries while I was locked up in that prison world..." He looked like a child at Christmas. She couldn't help giggling at him. For a brief second, she could almost see a normal 22 year old who was just enjoying life. But then she remembered everything he'd done and shook the idea off.

"Boyfriend?" he asked her bluntly.  
"Huh?" She looked over at him, confused.  
"Do you have a boyfriend?"  
"No." she responded sharply.  
'Are you sure....?" He questioned, glancing over at her.  
"Yes i'm sure Kai. I do not have a boyfriend."  
He chuckled at her response. "But you did have until quite recently right?"  
She looked over at him, frowning. "How.... No... yes... I mean...."  
She wasn't even sure how to respond.  
"I had a boyfriend. We split up about a week ago."  
"Oh...?" he asked, waiting for her to elaborate.  
"We tried to make the long distance thing work, but it didn't."  
"So who split up with who?" he asked. Emily felt extremely uncomfortable talking to Kai about this. She hadn't even spoken to her friends about it yet. She had been trying to wrap her head around it all, then everything else happened and she'd put it to the back of her mind.  
"He broke up with me." She said sharply.  
"Why?"  
"Because he didn't think the whole long distance thing was working. He...."  
"Did he meet someone else?"  
Kai was being really invasive now and Emily didn't like it at all.  
"I... I'm not talking to you about this Kai!" she shouted, causing him to look over at her smirking.  
"I'm gonna take that as a yes then." he grinned.  
Emily huffed to herself, folding her arms across her chest and staring out of the window.

Emily had been with her boyfriend Tom for almost a year when she moved away to Whitmore for college. He was one of the only people who ever seemed to really get her. He didn't ask too many questions, he never asked too much of her. When she moved away, he wasn't happy about it at all. He wanted her to stay close by and go to a different college with him. The college he wanted her to go to just wasn't the right one for her. They argued a lot before she left. Then one evening a week ago, she called him for a chat. They would speak most evenings but the last few he hadn't picked up so she thought she'd try again. She wished she hadn't. Someone did pick up his phone this time, but it wasn't Tom.  
"Hello, Toms phone, Sasha speaking!" the girl giggled into the phone. Emily didn't say anything. She hung the phone up and burst into tears. She thought Tom would call her back and try and explain. Maybe tell her it was just a friend or something. But he didn't. Hours later she got a text from him. He was explaining that he needed more from a relationship than she could give him. He was ending it. That was the last she'd heard from him. She'd spent days in tears, hiding it from her friends so they didn't suspect anything. She'd finally let them persuade her to go out for some drinks at the Grill. That was the might everything turned to shit. That was the night all of this began.

"Hey. You okay over there?" Kai asked, looking over at her. "You looked very deep in thought."  
"Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking what to ask you next." She lied.


	16. Trust

It was early evening now, and Kai and Emily had been on the road for hours. Emily could feel her eyes getting tired and she could only imagine Kai probably was too.  
"Do you think we could find somewhere to stop for the night?" She asked him. He glanced over at her and back to the road ahead.  
"Ah, I knew you wouldn't be able to resist getting me into bed..." He laughed.  
Emily frowned at him and inhaled deeply, ignoring his comment. "I'm pretty tired, you must be too after all the driving. Why don't we call it a day and start out again tomorrow?"  
"Sure. Have a look on google and see where the nearest motel is. We'll stop there for the night." He continued driving with his eyes glued to the road.

Emily had found a motel 10km up the road and they decided to crash there. It was a dingy little motel. Nothing fancy, but at least it was somewhere she could close her eyes and get some proper rest. She threw her bag on the bed and looked around the room.  
"Nope. No way." She groaned. She looked around the room again quickly. Sure enough, there was only one bed. "There is no way in hell I'm sharing a bed with you Kai."  
"I wouldn't even dare suggest it Emily. You can take the couch."  
Emily rolled her eyes at Kai and headed towards the bathroom. "I'm having a shower..."  
"Need to cool off after all those naughty thoughts of us sharing a bed huh?"  
She ignored him again. His comments were getting worse by the minute.

She locked the bathroom door behind her and turned on the shower, getting the water nice and hot. She needed this. Her body ached from sitting in a car for hours, and her head ached from listening to Kai talk for the same amount of time. She climbed out of her clothes and stood under the hot water. Finally she could relax and she closed her eyes. She enjoyed the feeling of the water hitting her skin and she took it all in. Every single drop of water hitting her body. All of a sudden she couldn't feel the water on her skin anymore. She opened her eyes to see it frozen in mid air. Glistening droplets, all around her, completely still. Wow. She excitedly jumped out of the shower and threw a towel around herself. She heard the shower start running again as soon as her concentration broke. She flung the door open and ran over to Kai with a huge smile on her face. "Kai! Kai! You'll never guess what...."

She froze on the spot. In front of her, Kai was sat on the bed with his back to her. He didn't turn to look at her, but he stopped what he was doing and she could see him tense up.  
"Kai. What are you...." She walked towards him and he looked up at her. In his hand was a familiar looking leather bound book. Her journal.  
"What the hell Kai?!" she screamed, pulling the journal from his hands.  
'I just..." He was lost for words. He had no idea what to say to her.  
"Don't. Don't even bother. There is absolutely no reason why you should even be touching my journal. That's private!"  
"Emily, I'm...."  
"No! Get out! Go!"  
"What? Where am I supposed to go Emily?"  
"I don't know and I don't care but I need you as far away from me as possible right now before I do something we'll both regret." She could feel the anger building up in her and the windows and mirror in the room started vibrating violently. If he didn't leave, she knew she was going to explode, along with half the motel room.

He walked past her towards the door, briefly turning and about to speak before stopping himself. Kai walked out and closed the door behind him.  
Emily sat down on the bed, holding the journal to her chest. Why would he do that? She knew why. Because he was a sociopath and I didn't care about anyone other than himself. He probably had a good laugh at everything she'd written. All the times she'd poured her heart out about her friends, her family... even about him. He must have read what she'd written about him. She felt even more angry now. But mixed in with anger was the familiar feeling or being taken advantage of. It always happened. No matter who she met, eventually they took advantage of her. She pulled on her pyjamas and climbed into bed, tucking her journal underneath her pillow and pulling the covers tightly around herself.

It took her a while to get to sleep. About an hour after she'd gone to bed, she heard the door click open and could hear it was Kai. She pretended to be asleep so she didn't have to endure speaking to him. She heard him say her name quietly a couple of times, then he lied down on the couch. Within a few minutes, she could hear him snoring. Emily closed her eyes, and fell asleep too.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Emily woke up to the sun shining brightly through the window. She looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table and it was 11am. She'd slept in for the first time in ages. She rolled over, looking around the room, but there was no sign of Kai. She wasn't sure if she was disappointed or relieved. She jumped out of bed and quickly changed into a pair of skinny jeans and her Nirvana shirt. She looked around for something to make coffee with, but no luck. Typical. She could really do with a nice cup of coffee right now.

She slumped down onto the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table. A few seconds later the door to the motel room flew open and in he walked.  
'Morning sleepyhead. You were snoring away so I thought I'd go grab coffee and a danish. I guessed you'd probably be in need of a coffee after last night..."  
"I don't want to talk about it Kai. And thankyou." She picked up the coffee from the table and took a sip, then grabbed a danish, taking a bite.  
"I really am sorry Emily. I shouldn't have read your journal. It was a huge invasion of your privacy and..."  
"I said I didn't want to talk about it." She sighed.  
"Okay."  
He dropped the subject and sat on the couch next to her.

"So, I reckon if we leave soon, we should reach Portland before this evening. We're over half way there already."  
"And when we get there?" She asked.  
"We'll go see my coven and find out what they know about yours."  
"What makes you so sure your coven will even want to help? They weren't exactly fans of yours before were they?"  
"Well, that's one of the perks of now being the all powerful Gemini Coven leader! They won't have much choice!" He laughed to himself. Emily shook her head.  
"I just can't see them wanting to help you Kai. I mean, what if they try and kill you the second we get there?"  
"They can't kill me. If they kill me, they all die as well."  
"Okay.... but there's still no saying they'll...."  
"They will help Emily. I'll promise them that as soon as they've helped find out where you come from, I'll leave Portland and not come back. They won't have to worry about me again." He sighed. He sounded slightly disappointed about the idea of not returning to Portland. Emily guessed he must have at least had some good memories from living there, even if they were few and far between.

Half an hour later, they had checked out of the motel and were putting their bags in the car.  
"I read what you said about me." He said in almost a whisper.  
"Kai."  
"I know, I know. I just feel like I need to explain."  
"There's really nothing to explain Kai. You read my journal. You took advantage of my trust. It's what always happens to me. I'm used to it and shouldn't have expected any different."  
"Especially from me, you mean?"  
"No, from anyone. Everyone's the same." She climbed into the passenger seat and did her seatbelt up, holding her journal in her lap. She wasn't going to let it out of her sight for the rest of the journey.  
Kai glanced over at her. "Maybe I'm different? Maybe you can trust me?"  
"I very much doubt that Kai...." She sighed and turned her head to look out of her window as he pulled away from the motel.


	17. Meet The Parents

The drive had seemed much longer than yesterday. Most likely due to the awkward silence that filled the car. Kai hadn't even attempted to speak to Emily since they left the motel and Emily spent most of the journey staring out of the window, or with her eyes shut.

"Hey..." he broke the silence, looking over at her.  
"What?" She asked bluntly, not even looking in his direction.  
"I know this is a bit short notice and everything, but you don't happen to have packed a fancy dress or something in your bag?" He looked at her awkwardly.  
She looked over at him confused and laughed to herself, not even responding.  
"Well?" He asked her in anticipation.  
"No Kai, I did not pack a fancy dress for our road trip to see your coven." She deadpanned.  
"Okay. We need to make a bit of a detour then..."  
She continued starting at him with a confused look on her face.  
"Care to explain why I might need something like that Kai?"

He stared at the road ahead. "Well, I didn't want to say before, but this weekend is kind of a big deal for my coven and all their local fellow covens..."  
"Kai...."  
"They have this ball once a year. All the local covens gather together. They used to do it when I was a kid but obviously I was never allowed to go..."  
"So you thought it would be a good idea to crash the party with me in tow?!" She asked him, anger building in her voice.  
"I thought it would be the best way for you to find out more about your coven. There'll be lots of covens and lots of leaders there. Someone's likely to have an answer for you." He muttered.  
"Fine. But I wish you'd told me before we left."  
"If I had, would you have even come?"  
She didn't say anything, but he knew what the answer would be.

A couple of hours later they were just outside of Portland and had stopped at a local boutique to try and find a dress for Emily to wear. She spent almost an hour trying on different ones before finally settling on a pretty pink dress with a sequin bodice and tulle skirt. Kai had fallen asleep in a chair a while ago so she quickly paid and had the dress bagged up. She walked over to him and tapped his leg with her foot. He was snoring his head off.

"Kai..." she said quietly, trying not to draw attention. He didn't move. "Kai!" She whisper-shouted this time.  
"Kai!" She said a bit louder this time, leaning down to shake his shoulder. Suddenly his hand jumped up grabbing her wrist hard, his eyes shooting open wide.  
"Kai! Let go!!!" She could feel him drawing her magic and his hand was glowing red. She couldn't let everyone see so she grabbed his wrist with her other hand and pulled it away, not causing a fuss despite the pain she was in. He stared up at her looking around confused.  
He groaned and stood from the chair. "Sorry. I didn't mean to..."  
"Just leave if Kai." She stormed out of the store and he followed behind her.  
"Emily I didn't..." his eyes were blinking wildly as if he was still waking up.  
"No Kai! I don't want to hear anymore of your lame arse excuses okay?! Let's get to this party and get this over with so I can finally get back home and away from..." she cut herself off and climbed into the back seat of the car.  
"What are you doing?" He asked her.  
"I need to get ready. I'm not doing that in the front seat. Just drive." She let out a big sigh and he climbed into the drivers seat, starting the engine.

They were about 20 minutes away now and Emily was starting to get herself ready. Kai would occasionally glance at her using the rear view mirror. All he could see currently was flailing arms and lots of fabric. He chuckled to himself.  
"I'd appreciate if you could keep your eyes on the road for a bit. I need to get changed now."  
"You know I could just pull over so you can..."  
"Nope. It's fine. I've almost got it....." he could hear her struggling with the dress now. "Okay okay. Stop the car a second."  
He shook his head and laughed, pulling over at the side of the road.   
She jumped out of the car and he heard a soft tap on his window.  
"Can I get some help here please?"

Kai stepped out of the car and turned around. Infront of him, Emily stood with her back to him. The back of her dress open, exposing a birth mark in a swirling pattern. It could easily be mistaken for a tattoo but Kai could tell it wasn't.  
"Could you zip me up please?" She asked him, pulling her hair over the front of her shoulder. He stood and stared for a few seconds.  
"Kai?" She questioned, looking back over her shoulder at him. He was stood there like a statue. Not moving, not blinking. Just staring. She started to feel a bit uncomfortable and turned her head away. All of a sudden she felt his cold fingers trailing down her back. She took a sharp inhale of breath and spun around.

"What the hell are you doing Kai? I asked you to zip up my dress not grope me!"  
He looked embarrassed. "I wasn't... sorry I... your birthmark. It's really unique."  
"Oh... Okay. Sorry I didn't mean to snap, I just wasn't expecting it that's all" she said.  
"I seem to be making a habit of messing up recently..." he mumbled to himself, but she heard. "Turn around and I'll zip you up"  
He said, gesturing with his hand for her to turn back around. She did as he asked and he gently pulled the zip from the small of her back slowly up to the top, his fingers softly grazing her shoulder as he did so. He felt her shudder. He wished she didn't feel so disgusted by his touch, but he really couldn't blame her.  
She turned back to face him and he smiled looking her up and down. "Wow. You look... I mean..." She had a huge smile on her face. He cut himself off "You look okay I guess." He shrugged, looking down at the ground.  
"Oh... thanks. I guess."

She got back into the front of the car and Kai disappeared for a few minutes, returning fully suited and booted in a tux. Wow, she thought. He looked good! She shook the thought off and gave him a slight smile as he climbed back into the drivers seat. He pulled back onto the road and continued driving towards his family home.

They were only a few minutes away now and he glanced over at her a couple of times before speaking.  
"Are you sure you're okay with this?" He asked with concern in his voice.  
"Yes. I should probably be the one asking you if you're okay?" She replied. "This is the first time since your father sent you away that you'll see him. And you're now the coven leader too. Are you sure YOU'RE okay with this?" She asked, looking over at him. He really did look very handsome all dressed up.  
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He muttered back.

They pulled up at the huge white house a few minutes later. It was obviously Kai's family home. She found herself thinking back to all the awful things he had done there and shivered.   
Kai looked over at her and gave a soft smile. "Do you mind?" He asked, offering his arm to her. She hooked her arm through his and couldn't help thinking it was more for his benefit than hers.  
"Thankyou Kai."

As they walked towards the big house there were cars parked around and people bustling about. So many people. They walked up the steps to the front door and Kai looked at Emily. "Thankyou for coming here with me." He said. She was about to say something back when all of a sudden the door flung open. There stood an older man. Handsome, with peppered grey hair. He had the same intense blue grey eyes as the man you were currently standing next to. Joshua Parker.

"I knew you were coming. I could sense it." The man smirked. "I didn't realise you'd dragged some poor innocent girl along for the ride though." He looked at Emily with a pitying look in his eyes.  
"I'm Emily" she said, smiling her best smile at him.  
He put his hand out to her and she accepted it with a soft shake. "Joshua Parker. I'm assuming my son has told you lots about me?" He snorted.  
"Some, but I'd like to find out more!" She continued to smile.

Joshua stepped back from the doorway gesturing for them to enter. Kai walked in and Emily stood still. She had to be invited. She was a vampire now and couldn't enter without being invited in.  
"Oh. I see..." he nodded knowingly. "Emily, would you like to come in?" He smirked at her. He knew.  
"I would love to, thankyou Mr Parker!" She said enthusiastically, trying to ignore the fact he obviously knew what she was.  
"Call me Joshua, please." He replied.  
They began walking down the hallway as he gently closed the door behind them.


	18. Aurora

Emily and Kai walked down the hallway of the large house, Joshua Parker following behind them. People were mingling in every room of the house. They had seen a huge marquee outside with a band playing, full of people too.  
"So, to what do I owe this pleasure, son?" Joshua asked, Kai turning towards him.  
"I just thought it was about time we caught up Dad. I mean, it's been, what, 18 years since we last spoke? Though as I remember it, there wasn't much choice in the matter on my part..." Emily could see Kai's face changing. She could feel his anger building up, making her head throb and her entire body ache. She flinched briefly, but Joshua caught it and turned to her. "Everything okay Emily? You don't look so good?" He looked genuinely concerned for her, but she knew better. He just wanted to know what was going on.  
"I'm fine, thanks. Just a bit of a migraine."  
"Well, I guess all this noise probably isn't helping. Why don't you both head up to my office, I'll meet you up there in a few minutes. Would you like something to drink while you're waiting?" He asked them both, but the entire conversation was mostly aimed at Emily. It was almost as if Kai didn't exist. She could see how life probably was for him growing up if this is what his father was always like.

"Sure." She replied. "Just a club soda would be great, thankyou."  
"Not a problem. Wait there a second and I'll grab you one. Malachai?" He glanced at his son, disgust clear on his face.  
"Sure, I'll have the same." Kai grunted.  
Joshua disappeared into a room leaving the two of them standing there.  
"You do look lovely Emily." Kai smiled. "Sorry about earlier, I get a bit nervous sometimes when I'm around pretty girls." He said quietly. That was the first time Kai had really ever given Emily a compliment of any kind, so she took it. She smiled back at him.  
"Your Dad seems..."  
"Like a complete jack-ass?" He cut in.  
"I was going to say like a jerk, but that'll do." She chuckled and he laughed along with her.

A few seconds later, Joshua was back with two glasses. They each took one and he led them upstairs to his office.  
"Take a seat. I've just got something to take care of and then I'll be with you." He said, closing the office door on his way out.  
"So...." Emily started.  
"Yea..."  
Neither of them were too sure what to say. Emily started wandering around the spacious office, looking at pictures on the walls. So many family photos. She recognised Jo, his twin. Two little ones with blonde hair. Liv and Luke. Several other children who's faces she hadn't seen before. She'd look at probably about 6 different photos, every one in the Parker family was in at least a couple of them, except for one person. She turned to Kai and he sighed. "Yea, so, my Dad obviously erased every memory of me after he sent me away. Guess I kind of expected that. Just here..." He pointed to a space between two photos. "...there used to be this cute little turkey handprint I made in kindergarten. Looks like that's gone too..."  
Emily looked over at Kai. He looked genuinely hurt. She tried to imagine Kai in kindergarten. He was probably a cute kid. She couldn't help thinking he couldn't have been a sociopath his entire life. He must have been like a normal kid for a while before something changed.

"I was about 7 when my family started cutting me out..." he began, as if he'd read her thoughts. "That's when they realised there was nothing they could do to help me. You start being able to do these things. Amazing things, and at first it's accidental and random, and then you start to figure it out... Which sounds cool, but its... it's torture. It's lonely."  
"But wasn't it the same for Jo?" Emily questioned.  
"Jo wasn't a Siphon. Jo was a Glinda. Perfect little witch who would do spells and make things float. People would clap... Oh, Josie! And I was the kid walking around like an addict. Fiending for a hit like I was on fire all the time. And they didn't understand it. So they isolated me. Couldn't even touch anyone. That screwed me up big time."

Emily stared at Kai, not sure how to react to what he had just told her. She knew his life had been difficult, but that, that sounded horrendous, especially from such a young age. She walked towards him, placing a hand on his arm. "Kai...."  
He turned to look at her and she could see the pain on his face. Tears were starting to pool in his eyes. She could feel his sadness deep in her belly. It felt like someone twisting her gut.  
"Its fine. I'm fine." He dismissed. "I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who've had way shittier lives than me and haven't gone on to kill or heavily maim most of their family!" He laughed with uncertainty. Emilys hand was still on his arm and she continued to look at him.  
"Kai... you..." She stopped short as the door to the office opened and Joshua walked in. They both jumped further apart and looked in his direction. He smirked at them both.

'So..." He said, clapping his hands together. "What is it you want Malachai?" he asked, impatitently.  
Kai walked towards his father who put a hand up to stop him. "No closer. You know the rules." Kai stopped where he was and nodded. Emily had never seen him like this before. He looked absolutely terrified of his own father.  
"Its not what I want, Dad. Emily is trying to find out some information on her family. Her coven." Kai said, glancing over at Emily who stood there nervously.  
"Her coven?" Joshua questioned. "But I thought she was a..."  
"I'm a Vampire-Witch hybrid." Emily interjected. Joshua looked confused.  
"How is that possible? When witches become vampires, they lose their magic. Witchcraft is natural, Vampire's aren't. The two cannot go hand in hand."  
"I was a Siphon, like Kai." She said to Joshua, who looked taken aback by this information. "Because I was a Siphon, I was able to draw my own energy from being a vampire. I'm something called a Heretic." She stated.  
"A Heretic.. I've heard myths about such things, but never seen one in the flesh. I think the last Heretics were banished to a...." He stopped himself. "But you don't know who your coven is, is that right?" He asked.  
"No. In fact I had no idea I was even a witch until several days ago when I became a vampire. It's been quite the week." She chuckled nervously. Joshua continued to look at her, almost as if he were studying her.

"Well, this is quite a remarkable turn of events. I have to say I was quite surprised to see a vampire on my door step, but this... This is something else entirely..." He began stepping closer to Emily but Kai stood between them.  
'Can you help us? Her... Can you help her?" Kai asked his father. Almost creating a barrier between Joshua and Emily. Was he protecting her? No, he wouldn't do that. He couldn't care less what happened to her. He'd proven that time and again.

A few minutes later, Kai had explained everything that had happened the last few days, including the birth mark he had just deiscovered on Emilys back. Joshua listened eagerly, taking in every detail.  
"I believe I may have an answer for you young lady." He said, looking over to Emily. Her eyes widened. She may actually finally find out about her family. "I think you may be part of something called the Aurora Coven. They were a very ancient coven. They had been around a very very long time. Their main powers involved emotions and taking energy from their own emotions to turn into magic. I'm not entirely sure why you're able to feel Malachai's emotions the way you do. All I can think is that you have some kind of connection to him which allows that." He looked between Kai and Emily who both looked a bit lost by what he was saying.  
"Connection? How do you mean?" Kai asked.  
"An emotional connection. I mean, I would say that's impossible with my son being completely emotionless..." He snorted, talking to Emily and ignoring Kai.  
"He's not emotionless. After he merged with Luke, he's taken on some of his qualities. I don't think Kai is completely emotionless anymore." She said, glancing over to Kai who looked extremely uncomfortable with the conversation unfolding in front of him.  
"Well, whatever the reason, you have a connection. You can use that to gain even more power if you learn the correct way." Joshua explained.  
"And my coven. Do you know where they are? My family?"  
"Oh. My dear girl..." he started. Emily looked at Kai. They could both tell she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear. "You ARE the Aurora coven. In fact, until today, the Aurora coven was extinct as of 18 years ago. The entire coven, including what must have been your family, were wiped out by another coven they had been at war with. Every single one of them died. Except, of course, we now know you survived." He gave Emily a small smile.  
"A war? Why were they at war?" Emily asked.  
"The Aurora coven disagreed with some things the other coven did. So much so that the Auroras tried to reverse some very important spells that were in place. It would have been too dangerous for the other coven to allow this, of course, and the only way for that coven to protect themselves, was to destroy the Aurora Coven." He looked over at Kai and Emily. A stern look on his face. "The coven always comes first." He said quietly to himself, but Kai and Emily both heard.

Kai moved closer to Emily and began to whisper in her ear. "Do you trust me?" He asked her.  
"What?" she whispered back.  
"Do you trust me?" He looked in her eyes, a pleading look on his face. Something was very wrong.  
"Yes, I trust you Kai." She said. He took hold of her hand, siphoning some of her magic discreetly so his father didn't notice. She tried her hardest not to flinch this time.  
"Motus" Kai said loudly, flicking his hand in his fathers direction, sending him flying across the room. He dropped down to the floor unconcious.  
Kai grabbed Emilys hand again and they ran out of the office, down the stairs and outside to the front of the house. They froze on the spot as they looked around. All around them were people stood staring straight at them, quitely talking to themselves. No. Not talking. They were chanting.

Sanguinem filio, sanguinem effurgarex perpetuum. Sanguinem filio, sanguinem effurgarex perpetuum...

"Emily, run!" Kai shouted. She vamp sped towards the car and locked herself in, looking over to where they had been standing. Kai was lying on the floor now, screaming. She tried to unlock the door to help him, but it wouldn't open. Suddenly there was a flash of light and Kai was gone.


	19. Back To The Future

It had been a few months since Kai was banished to another prison world by the Gemini Coven. Most of that time, Emily had spent holed up at the Salvatore house, researching ways to get him out. She had missed lots of college and had been pretty distant from her friends. Bonnie and Damon were stood in the kitchen having yet another heated argument about the situation.  
"Absolutely no way is he going to be let out of this prison world. He's back where he belongs Bonnie! You know that better than anyone." Damon huffed at her, gulping down a glass of Bourbon.  
"I know Damon, but you can see how much this is killing her. She feels bad that she got away and he didn't. If he hadn't warned her to run, she would have been stuck over there too and we would have been doing everything in our power to get her back. All I'm saying is, we can at least help her try and figure this out."  
"There's no way she can even make a connection. She doesn't have the Ascendant. His psycho Dad has that, and there's no way any of us are going anywhere near him or that coven."  
Bonnie sighed. That was a huge factor in them not being able to do a damn thing to help. They needed the Ascendant and a celestial event.

"Actually. I think I've found a way of getting around that...." They looked up to see Emily stood there, placing her laptop down on the counter. She looked tired. Beyond tired. She looked completely exhausted. One of the perks of being an empath, she couldn't bare the idea of Kai being stuck over there alone yet again. He'd already endure 18 years on his own.  
"I've been doing some research into my coven."  
"The Aurora Coven?" Bonnie asked, perching herself on one of the barstools next to Emily.  
"Yeah. So the Aurora Coven and the Gemini Coven it turns out have quite the history. The story Joshua told us about a war between two covens... it was between THOSE two covens. The Aurora Coven were completely against sending Kai to a prison world. So much so that they tried to get him out. They believed he deserved a fair trial and punishment like any normal person would have. This didn't go down well at all with the Geminis and they attacked whilst the Auroras were gathered one night trying to reverse the spell. The only one left was me..." she stared off into space for a few seconds, deep in thought. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she was the only witch of her kind in existence.

"Okay, so what exactly does this have to do with being able to get Kai out of this prison world?" Damon asked impatiently. He couldn't care less if Kai never got out, but he could see the effect this was having on Emily. If he got out, they would deal with him then.   
"Well, it turns out us Auroras have pretty awesome powers. Not only can we draw on our emotions, we can also tap into celestial events and use that energy to cross over to a prison world, without an Ascendant."  
Bonnie and Damon both stared at Emily.   
"We can get Kai back! All we need is a celestial event, and we can do it!"  
"Just one problem.... I'm going to assume he's probably still knocking around in Portland? He'd have no need to head to Mystic Falls. So how exactly would you pull him out? You wouldn't have enough time to travel to Portland and back to get him."  
Emily sighed. Damon was right. "I can call him!"  
"Call him?" Damon questioned. Completely confused by her response.  
"Yes. On the phone. Or, actually, get him to call me." She pondered.  
"How exactly will he call you? Firstly, he's in a prison world. We can't call from this world to a prison world. Secondly, how will he even know how to call you? I know you're getting desperate Emily but you're kind of clutching at straws here.  
"555-HIYA-KAI" Bonnie said quietly.  
"Huh?" Emily questioned, looking at her friend in confusion.  
"His pager? I mean... it's worth a try. But would it still work??" Damon said, quirking an eyebrow.  
"It's worth a try. If we can get over there and get him to call us, we can get him to head to Mystic Falls and pull him back out with us in a couple of days time!" Emilys smile was lighting up her entire face now.  
'Okay.. Lets do this then..." Damon said hesitantly.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A short while later, Emily and Damon were set up in the sitting room. Bonnie was sat to the side, watching them. They'd decided just Emily and Damon would go over as Emily probably wouldn't have enough power to transport three of them. They both closed their eyes and Emily began to chant. "Sangiema Meam Et Nos Mundo Carcerema, Sangiema Meam Et Nos Mundo Carcerema, Sangiema Meam Et Nos Mundo Carcerema"  
There was a flash of light, and they both opened their eyes. They were sat in the exact same spot, but Bonnie was gone. It was just the two of them. Emily jumped up and ran over to the phone, dialling Kai's pager number. "The number you have dialled has not been recognised. Please try again" the voice at the end of the phone said.

Emily stood with the phone to her ear, hearing the same message repeating over and over before it finally cut off. All she could hear was the dial tone now.  
"Emily? Did it work?" Damon asked her, walking over to where she was still standing with the phone to her ear. She was staring at the wall, a single tear falling down her cheek. "Emily?" Damon shook her shoulders causing her to move her eyes to his face.  
"It didn't work. We've got no way of getting in touch with him Damon."  
"Oh..."

Emily slammed the phone back down hard, breaking it into pieces. She forgot her own strength sometimes now that she was a vampire. She screamed out in frustration and picked up a glass that was sat on the breakfast bar, throwing it hard. It smashed against the door frame.  
"Well.... I guess that's one way to make an entrance!" She heard a familiar voice coming from behind her. Damon was staring in the direction the voice came from, quirking his eyebrow at Emily. As she turned around, there he was. Kai freaking Parker.  
'How are you here?!" She screeched at him.  
"Nice to see you too Emily!" He laughed, walking towards her. "I've been here for the last month. I couldn't stand being stuck in Portland any longer, so decided to make my way back to good old Mystic Falls! Hey, I've been sleeping in your bed every night too..." He winked at Emily.  
"Ew. Gross." She scrunched her face up in disgust.  
"I hate to break up this little party, but times running out and we need to get back over if we don't want to get stuck her forever. As much as I'd love to spend more time with you Emily, I don't think I can handle any more prison world time with this weasel." Damon said, gesturing towards Kai.

They gathered together in a circle, hand in hand as Emily chanted again. With a flash, they were all three back in present day Mystic Falls.  
Bonnie was still sat watching them and her eyes widened when she saw them all sit up. She had't been expecting to see Kai there with them, given they'd assumed he would be in Portland still.  
"You did it Em!" She ran to her friend and gave her a big hug. "I knew you could do it!" She squeezed her again.  
"Hey Bon-bon" Kai winked at her. Bonnie groaned and gave him a brief hello before her and Damon headed for the kitchen.

"So...." Kai began.  
"So..." Emily repeated.  
"Thank you Emily. I really didn't expect to be back here. Ever."  
"You didn't think I'd try and get you back?" She asked him, furrowing her brows.  
"Honestly. I hoped you would, but I never expected it. No one has ever done anything like this for me before. I mean, I was stuck in a prison world for 18 years, and my entire family just erased me from their memories."  
"Well, you're back now." She smiled at him.   
"I am..." he smiled back. "And now I need to go find my father and deal with him once and for all..." Kai started heading towards the door.  
"Seriously Kai?!" Emily shouted at him. She looked furious. Kai hadn't seen her look this angry before. She was pissed.  
"What?" He asked her, genuinely confused by her question.  
"I've just worked my arse off for the last 3 months trying to figure out a way to get you back, transported myself and Damon to a prison world we could have very well ended up stuck in... And all I get in return is a Thank you and goodbye?!" She could feel her anger building up inside her now. She was scared if she carried on she would make the entire house explode.  
"Emily I..." He didn't know what to say. "I don't know what you want me to say or do? I'm not exactly well rehearsed in things like this."  
Emily vamp sped over to Kai and pushed him against the wall. they could feel each others breath now, they were so close. This was the closest they had ever been to each other before.

Kai stared into her eyes, briefly glancing down at her soft, full lips. He wanted so badly to kiss her there and then. He could feel the tension between the two of them and so could she. He quickly switched places, now pressing her back against the wall, narrowing the gap between the two of them. She could feel the heat in her belly building. She wanted this. She'd wanted this for a while but she didn't even realise it.

Suddenly they could hear loud popping sounds which brought them both back down to earth. Damon and Bonnie both ran into the room looking confused and Kai and Emily quickly jumped away from each other. "What the hell?!" Damon shouted. Emily wasn't sure at first whether it was in response to what her and Kai had almost done, or the fact that every single bulb in the house was exploding. Damon looked over to Emily. "What happened this time? Did this creep do something to you?" He sped over towards Kai, holding him up against the wall. Kai held up his hands in surrender.  
"Damon! He didn't do anything! I just..."  
Damon dropped Kai and he fell down to the floor, glancing up at Emily with a smirk on his face. He knew full well what he had done to her and why all those light bulbs had exploded. He wondered what chaos she would have caused if they had actually kissed?


	20. Moonshine and Stars

It had been a few days since Kai had come back from the prison world. He had done what Emily asked and stayed away from his family. She had also stayed well away from Kai. Any time he turned up at the Salvatore house, Emily would make an excuse to leave, or would hide up in her room. She was so embarrassed about what had almost happened the other day. She had almost kissed Kai. Kai Parker, the sociopath who killed most of his family and had since killed god knows how many other people. How was it possible she was even attracted to him? Sure, he had been kind to her, he had helped her find out about her family, he was the only one who really understood who she was. Maybe that was it. Maybe her mind was tricking her into thinking she liked him as more than a friend?

It was early evening when her bedroom door burst open. Caroline, Bonnie and Elena all thundered into her room with huge smiles on their faces and bottles of drink in each hand.  
"What are you guys doing here?" She asked, an annoyed look on her face.  
"The last few days you've been sulking around the house for some reason and we thought it was about time we had some fun! The past few months have been chaotic to say the least and you need a break!" Caroline said enthusiastically. "So, we're here to get you ready for a party!"  
"A party?" Emily asked, not entirely sure this was a good idea.  
"Yes! You know, one of those things where you get dressed up and drink and dance?! A party Emily!!!" Caroline was flitting around the room, gathering makeup and hair products.  
"Come on. Let's get you looking gorgeous!" She said with a beaming smile on her face. Emily let out a big sigh but resigned herself to the fact they were not going away. If she just got tonight over with, they would leave her alone for a bit again.

An hour later Emily was ready. Elena had done her hair, Caroline had done her makeup and Bonnie had picked out an outfit for her to wear. She looked at herself in the bedroom mirror and smiled. She looked half human again... scrap that, she wasn't half human anymore anyway. But she did look pretty good. She grabbed her purse and leather jacket and the four girls walked down the stairs into the hallway.

"And where are you lovely ladies off to?" Damon's voice came from the kitchen. He walked over towards the group with a smirk on his face, grabbing hold of Elena and planting a huge kiss on her lips. Emily sighed softly to herself. Why couldn't she have something like that? Was she destined to be alone for the rest of her eternal life??  
"We, are off to show Emily a good time! Do you want to join us?" Elena asked Damon sweetly.  
"Nah, you girls have a good night. I've already got an evening planned with Ric, Stefan and Kai."  
"Kai?" Emily's ears pricked at the mention of his name.  
"Yea, he's managed to persuade us to let him tag along. At least that way we can keep him in check, make sure he doesn't get up to no good." Damon winked at Emily.  
"Well, I guess we'll see you when we get home!" Elena gave Damon another kiss and the four girls left the house ready for the evening.

"So where exactly is it we're going for this party?" Emily asked the girls.  
"It's at the Lockwood mansion! They throw THE best parties." Caroline squealed. Emily still wasn't sure she wanted to do this, but her friends were excited so she decided to just go with it.  
As the taxi approached the mansion they could see people everywhere. Lots of people drinking, some playing beer pong, some dancing.  
They paid the taxi driver and walked towards the massive house. As they walked in, a guy came out of nowhere, beer in hand, and threw his arms around the girls. "Yay!! I'm so glad you guys made it! Drink is in there..." he said, gesturing to the kitchen. "Dancing is in there..." he gestured toward another big room. "Upstairs is off limits!"  
"Thanks Ty! And thanks for inviting us. Emily here could use a bit of fun!" Caroline grinned, gesturing towards Emily.  
"Emily Asworth? I've heard lots about you." He said, smiling at her. "I'm Tyler Lockwood. Welcome to my humble abode!" He bent forward, giving a mock bow and turned to walk away "have a great night ladies!" He waved back at them as he walked off.

They had been at the party for a couple of hours now. Emily had been drinking since they arrived. She was a bit tipsy, but not enough to feel like she was actually enjoying herself. She had taken herself off to the corner of the room everyone was dancing in, sipping on a cup of who knows what. A few seconds later, Tyler came walking over towards her.  
"Hey! You okay? You don't look like you're enjoying this very much?" He asked, smiling at her.  
"I'm not much of a party person to be honest. I only came because the others made me." She chuckled.  
"Aw that's a shame. Hey, maybe I can get you something a bit stronger? May help you get in the mood?" He grinned.  
"Stronger? I don't do dr...."  
"No no no. Nothing like that. A buddy of mine makes moonshine. It's pretty potent stuff, but it's AMAZING if you want to just tune out everything else that's going on in your life and enjoy the now." He took hold of Emily's hand and walked her out to the pool house. When they got inside, he unlocked a cupboard and pulled out a jar of clear liquid. He took Emily's cup, threw away the current contents and filled it with the Moonshine.  
"Here you go. Have a try." He handed the cup back to Emily and she hesitantly took a small sip. It was definitely strong stuff! She coughed a little as the fumes shot down her throat and up her nostrils "It takes a bit of getting used to, but trust me, it's good!"

They walked back to the main house and Emily was taking small sips on the way. By the time they reached the house she could already feel it going to her head.  
"You were right!" She said excitedly "this is good stuff!" She was at a point now where everything was a little bit swimmy, but in a good way. The music was amplified, she focused her eyes on the people dancing and suddenly found herself moving with the music too. Tyler was dancing with her but keeping a respectful distance. She took a couple of big gulps of the liquid and within a few minutes it had hit her. She felt like nothing else mattered. Everything that had happened over the past few months didn't exist. She was just enjoying herself for once!  
"I need to go sort some things out. You okay by yourself for a bit?" Tyler asked her.  
"Yea yea, I'm fine! Thanks Ty!" She smiled at him and carried on dancing as he walked away.

A short while later, she was starting to feel a bit dizzy so she wandered outside and found a swing seat in the garden. She threw herself down on it, almost missing the seat as it moved in the process. She giggled to herself. She lied back, looking up at the stars in the sky. It reminded her of her coven. The Aurora coven. Apparently they had links to celestial events. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and opened them again, able to make out small swirls of stars in the sky that she'd never really noticed before. She was pulled back from her daydreaming by her phone buzzing in her purse. She pulled it out and looked at the screen, squinting her eyes to try and make out the caller ID. She couldn't quite, but answered anyway.

"Hellooooooo Emily Ashworth speaking" she said in a posh accent. She heard a laugh on the other end of the phone and immediately knew who it was.  
"Are you drunk Miss Ashworth?" The voice replied, obviously stifling a laugh.  
"Ah, Mr Parker. To what do I owe this pleasure?" She closed her eyes as she was talking.  
"Well, I just thought I'd check in on you. It's been a while, and I heard you were out partying tonight so thought I'd try my luck and see if you'd answer my call!"  
"Well. I did!" She giggled.  
"You sure did..." he replied. "So, where are you?"  
"I'm at Tys house. It's an AMAZING party. You should come along! It'll be fun! We can dance and drink and..." she stopped herself.   
"And...?" He replied. She can hear his smirk in his voice.  
"So yea, you should come!"  
"I may just do that. And where might I find you if I did happen to come?" He asked.  
"I'm staring at the stars from a swingy seat thing in the garden. It's so pretty out here. I never realised how pretty it is. It's amazing..." her voice trailed off.  
"Sure is."

Emily closed her eyes again. Taking in a few breaths. She felt so relaxed right now. It was nice.  
Suddenly she felt her feet being lifted up slightly and the seat shifting underneath her. She opened her eyes to see Kai sat at the end of the swing seat with her feet on his lap. He was leaning back, his arms spread across the back of the seat, staring up at the stars.  
"Yup. You were right. It's pretty amazing." He continued looking up, smiling to himself.  
Emily looked at him. His perfect face, his perfect hair, that perfect grin.  
"That's creepy." He said with a smirk.  
"What is?"  
"Staring. You're staring at me." He laughed, looking towards her.  
"No I wasn't... I..." she stuttered. What the hell was she doing. How was he making her feel like this?  
"Emily..."  
"Kai?"  
"I'd really like to kiss you..."


	21. Beneath The Stars

"What...?" Emily squeaked, pulling herself into an upright position on the seat and looking around anxiously.  
"You heard me." He replied in a gruff voice. God he was so hot... no, no Emily. She jumped up from her seat and edged away from him.  
"I need to go find the others. They'll be wondering where I..." she turned and started walking away.  
Kai moved towards her, grabbing her arm and turning her to face him.  
"Emily." He looked straight into her eyes. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared back at him. Those gorgeous, blue-grey eyes, sparkling under the moonlight. Could he be any more perfect? But he wasn't perfect. Perfect looking, sure. But he was far from perfect. She shook herself out of her thoughts and realised he was still looking at her.

"What were you thinking?" He asked her softly.  
"I don't know what you mean..." she muttered, almost under her breath.  
"Just then. You were thinking about something." He still had his hand on her arm. She glanced down at it and he suddenly realised and let go.  
"I was thinking this is a really really bad idea Kai." She looked down at the ground. Her feet shifting from one side to the other. She felt a soft touch on her chin as he lifted her face up to look at him again. He was even closer now. He didn't say anything. He kept his fingers on her chin and lifted his other hand up to softly rush against her cheek.  
"Kai..."  
"I won't do anything unless you want me to Emily." He said quietly, his hand still on her cheek. It felt so warm. She expected him to have rough hands. She wasn't sure why. She definitely wasn't expecting them to be this soft and warm.

That's when she realised she was starting to feel Kai's emotions again. It was a mixed bag. He seemed calm, but anxious. Relaxed, but scared. She lifted her hand up to gently touch his neck, still looking into his eyes. Was she really going to do this. This would change everything. Was she willing to mess up what was starting to become a half decent friendship because she couldn't control her emotions? Could she trust him with her feelings? With her heart? So many things were rushing through her mind right now. Why did she have to overthink everything?!

"Stop thinking." He said, almost as if he had read her mind.  
"I'm not..."  
"Yes you are. Your brain is working overtime trying to work out whether this is something you should or shouldn't do."  
"I can't help it. I've been hurt by so many people before Kai."  
"I know. And I probably can't promise you I won't do the same....”  
She furrowed her brows at him. He chuckled.  
"I'm just being honest Emily. This is all new to me too. I don't know what's going to happen but right now, I know what I want." He gently stroked the side of her face with his thumb. She felt the cold of his rings softly grazing over her skin.

His eyes were sparkling, they looked like they were filled with a thousand shimmering stars. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her face. Without even thinking anymore, she wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled his lips to hers. When they touched she felt a million sparks through her entire body. It was as if he had ignited something she'd been holding back for so long. The kiss was soft but needy. Like they both had been waiting forever to do this. She played gently with the hair at the back of his head as she let herself melt into the kiss. His hands moved from her face to her waist, pulling her body as close to his as he could get it. He could feel the same sensation as Emily. Sparks. He'd never felt that before. They hadn't noticed but the flames on the tiki torches dotted around the garden had grown by at least a foot. Shooting upwards towards the sky like a flare.

They both slowly pulled away from each other for air. Emily looking back down at the ground nervously.  
"Hey." Kai said, lifting her chin up again. "You okay?" There was a softness to his eyes now. Something she’d not seen before.  
"Yea. I think I am." She said, nodding and smiling at him. He smiled back, a feeling of relief rushing over him that she wasn't about to just run off suddenly.  
"Good..." He still had his hands on her waist, and she had hers around his neck. She moved her fingers slowly against his skin, stroking the back of his neck gently. He slowly leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. How was this the same Kai Parker she had met a few months ago? He was being so sweet and gentle and caring. Was this how he was when someone offered him love and affection? She wondered how different he would have turned out if he’d had that from his own family.  
"I do really need to go and find the others now though..." she laughed.  
"Okay." He smiled at her. "Come one." He grabbed her hand in his and they walked back towards the house. As they entered Emily spotted her friends on the other side of the room and dropped Kais hand suddenly. She glanced back at him and he looked a little crestfallen, but she couldn't risk her friends seeing them together. Not yet.

"Emily! Where on earth were you?! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Elena screeched as Emily and Kai walked towards the girls.  
"Yeah, we were worried you may have been kidnapped by some psycho or something..." Caroline looked over at Kai who was stood behind Emily, now leaning against the wall playing with his phone. "Guess we were right huh?" She asked, raising her eyebrows with suspicion in her voice.  
"Oh, Yea. Kai found me outside and was just showing me where you guys were. Right Kai?" She glanced at him. He nodded his head slowly, his eyes still fixed on his phone.  
"Okay... well, we ought to leave really. We've got a taxi waiting outside." Caroline grabbed Emily’s hand started to turn towards the door.  
Kai stood upright and shoved his phone in his back pocket, shifting about uncomfortably. "Geez. Whoever thought skinny jeans were a good idea? It seems wrong. All bunched up. Also... why are jeans so tight when phones are so big?!” Everyone looked at him incredulously. "Anyway, we were thinking I could give Emily a lift back. We've got a few things to talk about so will give us a chance. Right Emily?" He looked over at her. She furrowed her brows in confusion.  
"Yes! Kai's found some more information on my coven so I'll grab a lift with him and meet you back at the house." She said to her friends.   
"Fine..." Caroline answered. "But don't you dare lay a hand on her. Creep." She wagged a finger at Kai who just laughed.

Kai and Emily stepped out into the gravel driveway.  
"Right, come on then..." Emily said, shuddering in the cold air.  
"Actually, I may have lied about the car part..." he muttered, looking at Emily with a pleading look in his eyes.  
"What?! Kai!!!!" He could see the anger building on her face. "So how exactly are we supposed to get home, genius?"  
"Walk of course! It's nice out. Will give us time to talk properly." He grinned.  
"Fine! Let's go!" She huffed, walking slightly ahead.

"So, did you actually want to talk about something?"  
"Well, yeah. Of course."  
"What did you want to talk about?" She questioned.  
"I thought maybe talking about what just happened may be a good idea?" He furrowed his brows.  
"There's nothing to really talk about Kai. I was drunk and you were just being you..." Kai stopped walking and looked at her.  
"Really Emily? You're going to do the whole, this isn't a good idea, thing again? It's a bit late for that don't you think? And as for being drunk, you seemed pretty self aware when you were shoving your tongue down my throat back there!"  
"Look, I like you. I've liked you for a while. But we're so different. I'm a quiet small town girl, you're a..."  
"Murdering psychopath? Yea. I get it. You're better off without someone like me."  
"That's not what I..."  
"No, it's fine Emily. I'm used to it. You're far too good for me and I knew that from the start, which is why I didn't try anything until now. Tomorrow we can just go back to how it was..." he trailed off as you both started walking again.

A little while later they were almost at the Salvatore house. Neither of them had spoken the rest of the way home.  
As she was about to walk up to the house, Kai grabbed hold of her hand. "Look, I'm sorry Emily. I didn't mean to snap at you. It just takes a lot for me to admit my feelings and..."  
"I know Kai. I do understand. I've just been hurt so many times by so many people. It's hard for me to trust anyone."  
"I asked you before if you trusted me, remember?" He asked. Emily remembered back to when they were in his Dads office and Kai had realised something was off about the whole situation.  
"I remember." She nodded, biting her bottom lip.  
"And do you still trust me?"  
"Of course I do Kai. You're the one person who's been there for me through all of this without hesitation." She smiled softly at him.  
He pulled her closer, speaking in a soft, deep tone. "Then trust that I won't do anything to hurt you on purpose Emily. I promise you that."  
Emily looked up at him smiling. She was about to lean in and give him a goodbye kiss when she heard a familiar voice coming from the front door.

"What the hell are you doing standing out here in the dark?! Are you coming in or not?!" Damon bellowed, disappearing back inside.  
"Nice timing..." Kai muttered to himself. Emily looked at him and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Maybe next time?" She smiled.  
"Definitely" he replied as she walked towards the house and through the front door. As she turned to close the door she saw Kai still standing there with a huge grin on his face...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N  
> I'm not 100% happy with this. I already wrote the chapter once and was really pleased with it. Then I forgot to save it and lost half! So I've had to sit and rewrite it all again, and of course I couldn't remember everything I'd written originally!  
> But anyway... Yay! Finally they've kissed! It may not all be smooth sailing from here though unfortunately ;)


	22. 1903

Emily closed the front door behind her and smiled, closing her eyes and leaning back against it.   
"What was that all about then?" She heard Damons voice in front of her and opened her eyes to see him stood there.  
"Nothing, Kai just brought me home from the party thats all." Emily shifted anxiously. "I'd better get to bed. I'm really tired." She started walking past Damon, up the stairs. As she walked next to him, he grabbed hold of her arm, and pulled her towards him, speaking quietly in her ear.  
"He's bad news Emily. You don't want to involved in that world, trust me."  
She shook him off and carried on up the stairs. Damon knew. It probably wouldn't be long before the others all knew as well. And she really didn't care.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Emily woke to the sun shining through her bedroom window. She must have forgotten to draw the curtains before she fell asleep last night. She was so exhausted, physically and emotionally, by the time she got home. She remembered her run in with Damon last night, but tried not to let it bother her. Looking outside, the sun was shining and looked like it was going to be a beautiful, warm spring day. She pulled on a pair of denim shorts and a t-shirt, scraping her hair up out of her face. She glanced at herself in the mirror and smiled. Today was going to be a good day.

She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where Damon, Elena and Stefan were all sitting. She could tell they had been talking but stopped when she walked in. She smiled at them, and walked over to where the hot pot of coffee was, pouring herself a cup. She took a sip and let out a soft sigh. She hadn't felt this alive in a long time.   
"Emily..." She heard Elena's gentle voice behind her and looked over in her direction.  
"Elena..." She replied, smiling.  
"We really need to talk to you about Kai."  
She knew it wouldn't be long before this conversation would come up. She hoped it wouldn't be quite this soon. Emily took a deep breath and sat next to her friend.  
"Elena, I...."  
Damon quickly cut Emily off. "We need you to talk to him about helping us with something." He said. Emily looked at him confused for a few seconds, then he raised his brows at her, confirming he hadn't said anything about last night.  
"Oh, okay. I guess I can do that. What did you need him to do?"  
"Well, it turns out, before Bonnie managed to escape the prison world, she had a run in with my Mummy dearest..." Damon continued.  
"Your mother? But... how? Bonnie was in 1994. Didn't your Mother die before you even became a vampire?"  
"That's what we thought. Turns out she's been stuck in another prison world all this time.... lots of weird confusing prison world witchy woo stuff involved, but yea, turns out my Mother did NOT die in 1858."  
"Oh...." Emily wasn't sure what to say. Damon and Stefan had gone this long thinking their mother had died, and now they find out she's still alive and stuck in a prison world somewhere. "So, what do you need Kai for?" She asked.  
"Kai, being the now all powerful Gemini coven leader, will be able to transport us to the prison world to bring back our mother, the same way you did with him."  
Emily stood deep in thought for a few seconds before Damon continued... "And no, before you think you'll be able to do it, you can't. We've already looked into it and it HAS to be a Gemini leader that does it."  
"Why? What makes it so different?" She asked.  
"It just is. We don't know all the logistics, but he's the only way of getting her back."  
"Okay." She agreed. "I'll speak to him. But I can't promise anything."  
"I have a feeling he'd be more than happy to help you Emily." Damon winked with a knowing smirk.

A few minutes later, Emily was on the phone to Kai.  
"Hey you. I was wondering when I'd hear from you today. I'm glad it was sooner rather than later." He said as he answered the phone. She could hear the smile in his voice...  
"Hey. So I needed to ask you a favour."  
"Oh?"  
"Do you think you could come over in a bit so we can talk?"  
"Sounds ominous..." he chuckled.  
"Don't worry, it's nothing bad, I just need your help with something."  
"Okay, sure. I'll be over in a bit."  
"Thanks Kai."  
She hung up the phone and went back into the kitchen to tell the others Kai was heading over.  
"Thank you Emily." Stefan said "It really means a lot to us." He smiled and grabbed his coffee off the counter, heading out of the kitchen.  
"I'd better get going, I'm late already!" Elena announced, turning to kiss Damon then giving Emily a hug goodbye before leaving.

"So..." Damon was looking at Emily with a devilish glint in his eye.  
"So?" she replied.  
"Don't worry, your little secret's safe with me. But just for the record, I'm NOT happy about it. Please be careful okay?"  
"Damon. Nothings going on with us okay." she lied. She hated lying, but it was definitely necessary right now.  
"Sure...." He replied, heading out of the room.  
Emily ran back upstairs to tidy herself up. She had never been this bothered about seeing Kai before, but after last night, she was like a giddy schoolgirl!

Suddenly she heard a knock on her bedroom door and then that voice... "Helloooooo... Anyone in there?"  
She opened the door to see a grinning Kai standing in front of her.  
"Well, hello..." he smiled, slinking an arm around her waist and pulling her close to him. She wanted so badly to kiss him there and then, but she couldn't. Not here.   
"Kai! Stop!" she giggled, gently pushing him away.  
"Aw, I was hoping I may get a little guided tour of your room. Is that not on the menu for today?"  
"Kai!" she slapped his chest and shook her head in disbelief.   
"Oh come on.. You can't honestly tell me you haven't thought about it..." He stood close to her again. She could smell his warm, minty breath. All she wanted to do right then was grab him and drag him into her room. No. She needed to have a serious conversation with him. She snapped herself out of it and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind her.  
"Maybe some other time." She said with a wink.

Kai and Emily were sat in the sitting room on the couch. Kai kept looking at Emily, wondering what it was she needed to ask him. She had spent the past 15 minutes playing with the hem of her shorts.  
"So, are you going to ask what you wanted to ask me, or...? I mean, I'm more than happy to sit her staring at you, but I'm guessing you needed to ask something?"  
"Sorry. It just feels weird, sitting here with you after what happened last night."  
Kai shifted closer to her on the sofa and took her hand. "Are you regretting it?" He asked, frowning slightly.  
"No. No. Definitely not" she laughed softly. "It's just different."  
"Different to what? Your other relationships?" he questioned, still holding her hand gently in his.  
"Relationship. Singular. I've had one boyfriend in my entire sad little life. I was with him for a while. Then he cheated on me and ditched me."  
"Okay. I can see how this might be a bit scary. But surely anything new is? It's scary for me too. Having all these feelings for someone. I've never had that. I had girlfriends when I was younger, but never anything serious. Never anyone I really liked. It was mostly just..."  
"Physical?" she finished for him.  
"I guess. Yea."  
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She had been with one person in her entire life. The same person who had destroyed her. Kai had obviously been with plenty of girls with no emotional attachment. Their relationship experiences had been completely different.  
"What are you thinking?" He asked her, gently touching her cheek, a worried look on his face.  
"I'm just not sure I'm enough for you Kai." she looked down at the floor, trying to avoid eye contact with him.  
"Let me be the one that decides that, okay?" he lifted her face to his, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. She felt herself melt beneath him, kissing him back harder. Fiercely, like she was never going to be able to kiss him again. He slowly pulled away and smiled at her.  
"So, what is it you needed to ask me?" he grinned, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

"So, Damon wants me to transport him back to 1903 prison world so he can bring back his Mummy who he's thought for years was dead....?" Kai looked amused by what she was asking him.  
"That's the plan. If you agree to it obviously." She smiled.  
"And if I don't?"  
Emily shrugged. "Nothing I guess, but I'd really appreciate it if you did this.... for me?" She gave a cute smile, fluttering her lashes and he laughed.  
"Ah, so you're already pulling the whole cute girlfriend routine on me, huh?"  
"Girlfriend...? I..."  
"Don't worry, it was a joke Emily." he chuckled to himself. "Okay, fine. I'll do it. For you." he agreed.  
"Thank you so much Kai. It really does mean a lot."  
"One condition...." Emily looked at Kai confused. Then she remembered what Damon had said to her before. 'He always wants something in return'. "Don't look so worried. I want to take you on a date. That's all I'm asking." Emily let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding in.  
"I think I can manage that." she grinned.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

A little while later, everyone was gathered in the sitting room. They had Kai, they had the Ascendant, and they had Bennett blood in the form of Bonnie.  
Bonnie, Damon and Elena were going to go with Kai. Emily had said she wanted to go too, but Damon insisted she stay and Kai agreed that it would take too much power to transport her too.  
Bonnie pulled a massive hunting knife out and cut the palm of her hand, drawing blood for the spell.  
"Damn..." Kai laughed. "Crocodile Dundee called. He wants his knife back!" He grinned at Bonnie. "You know. He's no longer a thing, and neither is that joke." She snarled back at him.  
"Ouch..." Kai mouthed, grinning over at Emily who was stifling a giggle.  
The four stood together, holding the Ascendant with Bonnies blood on it. Kai closed his eyes and began to chant "Sangiema Meam Et Nos Mundo Carcerema, Sangiema Meam Et Nos Mundo Carcerema" and they were gone.

Emily sat in silence for what felt like forever. She started remembering back to the night before. How close she had felt to Kai. He really was determined to make something work between them. He was willing to risk feeling emotions he had never felt before, to give things a chance with her. She remembered back to the moment they first met. How he had tried to help her as much as he possibly could without ever gaining anything in return.  
All of a sudden she felt her gut twisting in pain and her head hurting. She stood to go and grab a glass of water from the kitchen, then there was a sudden flash of light in front of her. They were back! She looked around at her friends with excitement. She was going to tell Kai she wanted to give this a proper go. That she had really strong feelings for him... She might even love him? Wow. As she glanced around the room, she saw her friends stood there. Elena was stood with Damon, either side of a woman Emily assumed was Damon and Stefan's mother, and Bonnie was staring straight at Emily a concerned look in her eyes.

"Bonnie? Where's Kai?" she asked her friend quietly. Bonnie didn't say anything. She walked towards Emily and hugged her.  
"I'm so sorry Emily. We had to."  
Emily pulled away from her friend sharply, her eyes wide with shock. "You had to what Bonnie?" she asked, frowning.  
"We had to leave him there. He's too dangerous to be roaming around Mystic Falls Emily. And after Damon told us that you had feelings for him..."  
Emily looked over at Damon who averted his eyes from her. He had told them all. He'd lied.  
"You left him there?!" She shrieked at her friend. "How could you do that? And knowing that I was starting to feel something for him as well? Do you realise the HELL he's been through, stuck in prison worlds for years on end. And now he's stuck in yet another one. Alone, again!" She screamed. Tears were streaming down her face. She stormed upstairs to her room, locking the door behind her.

She had nothing left. All of her friends had turned on her and the man she was starting to fall in love with had been wrenched away from her. She was a vampire-witch freak with no one left. What was the point anymore? As she sat there, anger coursing through her body, she remembered Stefan telling her about the time he turned his humanity off. 'It's like a switch in your brain', he'd told her. 'One flick, and it's all gone. No more caring. No more sadness.'

She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath, and it was done...


	23. Crazy Pants

Three weeks had passed since Emily had turned off her humanity. She was currently AWOL from Mystic Falls and her friends were desperately trying to find her. The last they had heard, she was in New Orleans. Damon had got phone call earlier in the week from Elijah, and Original Vampire he had a somewhat decent relationship with. In other words, they no longer wanted to kill one another at every opportunity. Apparently she had made quite the impression whilst there. She had made their brother Kol fall for her, then used him to cause yet another all out war between the Witches, Vampires and Werewolves. The Mikaelsons were desperate to get her out of New Orleans, but hesitant to kill her given her relationship to the Salvatores, and her being a Heretic. Stefan had packed up a bag and was on his way to try and find her. Damon was still at home, trying to figure out a way to get Emily to switch her humanity back on.

"You know there's only one thing thats going to make that happen Damon." Caroline began.  
"Nope. No. There has to be some other way." Damon disagreed, shaking his head back and forth. He knew deep down that the only solution to this was the sociopath they had thrown into another prison world weeks earlier. He was the reason she switched her humanity off. She had got close to him and then he had left her like all the others. Not intentionally of course. It was all her friends faults. They had tricked her into persuading Kai to take them back over to the 1903 prison world. They, like many others before, had taken advantage of her good nature and kindness, and screwed her over. Now Damon was feeling extremely guilty and wouldn't stop until he found a way to make it up to her.  
"All you need to do is get Bonnie to take you back over there. You grab Kai, and then she's back!" Elena said hopefully.  
"There has to be another way...." Damon grunted. If Kai was allowed out, there was no telling what he would do to get back at everyone for leaving him there in the first place. He was already hell bent on revenge before he met Emily. Somehow she had persuaded him to just get on with his new found lease on life. But if he came back and found her the way she is now, he could do anything. It wasn't something he even wanted to consider.

Damons phone started ringing on the countertop. He picked it up to see Stefan's name on the screen. "Brother. Tell me it's good news." He asked as he held the phone to his ear.  
A few minutes later, he hung up the phone and turned to Elena and Caroline.  
"He has her. It took the entire Mikaelson family to subdue her, but he's got her and he's on his way back with her now."  
Elena and Carolines faces lit up. Happy that their friend was in safe hands finally. Elena's face then dropped when she realised this was just the tip of the iceberg. They still had to get her humanity back on.

That evening, Stefan finally arrived back at the house. He walked in carrying Emily, flanked by both Kol and Elijah Mikaelson.  
"Well, that was quite the eventful few days, wouldn't you say so brother?" Kol said, looking over at Elijah.  
"Yes, indeed. Now, lets get this young lady down into the basement and make sure she's well secured, then we best get back. Klaus is already having an absolute fit about the mess she's caused." Elijah walked down the stairs to the basement with Kol and Stefan and helped lock Emily in safely.  
Damon and Stefan thanked the Mikaelson brothers and walked them to the front door.  
"Tell her to give me a bell once she's all better will you mate? I have a feeling we could make a good team." Kol laughed, waving to the Salvatores as he walked out with his brother.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

The next morning the house woke up to angry shouts and screams coming from the basement. Stefan sleepily stepped out his room into the hall coming face to face with Damon.   
"Someones awake." Damon laughed to his brother.  
"I have a feeling this could be a very long day...." Stefan groaned, rubbing his eyes to try and wake himself up.

After grabbing themselves coffee from the kitchen, they both walked down to the basement where Emily was currently locked up.  
"Let me out of here you idiots!" she screamed through the bars. They had never seen her so angry before. She was furious.  
"Sorry Em, no can do. Not until you flick that little switch again." Damon smirked.  
Emily laughed maniacally. "Sure, I'll just turn it back on and go back to feeling like absolute shit, thanks to you and my friends!" She punched the door hard. "You took the one good thing in my life Damon! Why would you do that?!"  
"It wasn't about you Emily." Damon sighed. "He was a danger to everyone you care about."  
"Well, I don't care about anyone now, so well done." She chuckled.  
Stefan looked at Damon and shook his head. He knew there was no way of bringing her back without Kai.

The brothers started to head back upstairs again. "Where are you going? What? You can't handle the truth Damon? YOU are the one that did this to me. YOU!" she screeched.  
They continued upstairs not saying a word.  
When they got to the kitchen, they both sat in silence for a few minutes before Stefan spoke.  
"We have to bring him back Damon. It's the only way."  
"No Stefan. Not a chance in hell."  
'Damon. Stop being so damn stubborn! He is literally THE only way we can get Emily back. And she's right, you did this. You knew how she felt about Kai, but all you cared about was getting him far away from Elena so he didn't use her to get to you."  
Damon glared at his brother, fully aware that what he was saying was true.  
"For once in your life, put someone else first. Because we both know that you keeping Elena safe is just as much for your own selfish reasons, as it is for her."  
Damon let out a low growl and sighed.  
"I hate when you're right brother." He huffed. They had to bring Kai back. If they wanted the real Emily back, Damon had to swallow his pride and do what was right for her, rather than for himself.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

"Are you sure you want to do this Damon? I mean, I love Emily probably more than anyone else in this room, but Kai will always be Kai."  
"I know Bon-bon. I hate the thought of him being back here in Mystic Falls, but this is the right thing to do."  
Bonnie sighed, giving Damon a soft smile.  
"You know we can't just bring him back? He needs to be reminded of Qetsiyahs blood."  
Bonnie was referring to the ancient Traveller witch, Qetsiyah, who was a distant relative of the Bennett witches. Her blood was in Silas' headstone in Nova Scotia. Kai would need that, plus the Ascendant to make his way back.

"We need to send a message to Kai, letting him know what to do, so he can try and get back over."  
Damon nodded. "And how exactly are we going to do that?" He asked.  
'We need to astral project to the 1903 prison world. If we can somehow give him a message..."  
"Can we do that? Do we not need Emily to do that?" Damon asked.  
"No, we have Bennett blood and the ascendant. That's all we need. But he won't be able to see us." She answered.  
Damon picked up a piece of paper and scrawled something on it, handing it to Bonnie. "This should do it." He said, grabbing a glass of Bourbon and downing it in one gulp.  
Bonnie read the message. 'Get your scrawny arse to Nova Scotia jerkface. Emily needs you. D'  
"Sure, I guess that could work." Bonnie chuckled. "Lets get our girl back." she smiled.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Several days had passed since Bonnie and Damon has visited the prison world. Damon has left the note for Kai in the hope that he would see it. They couldn't find him in the house anywhere but they were only there a short time to deliver the message.  
"Do you think he's seen it?" Bonnie asked Damon.  
"Maybe. But I'm now wondering whether he has enough brain cells left in that thick skull of his to actually figure out what it meant..." Damon frowned.

They had been knocking Emily out regularly with vervain since she'd been back. They hated doing it, but all she was doing when she was awake was shouting and screaming and quite possibly slowly driving herself insane.  
Stefan was sat outside the locked room in the basement. He was starting to worry about how Emily might react if she ever did turn her humanity back on. Once she remembered all the awful things she'd done in the weeks she had been completely out of control she wasn't going to be able to forgive herself. He knew this. He was just closing his eyes for a few seconds when he heard some noise coming from upstairs. He vamp sped up there to see what was going on and was faced with Damon, passed out on the floor. He looked at Bonnie who was standing there with a confused look on her face. Suddenly Stefans neck was snapped by an invisible force and he slumped to the floor.  
Bonnie turned to run when she slammed straight into someone's chest. She looked up and saw it was him. It was Kai.

"Motus!" She shouted, putting her hand up towards Kai. Nothing happened.  
"No magic?" He asked, cocking his head go the side. "Oh, that's my fault. I was spooning you earlier and I think I might have sleep siphoned you." He smirked. "Oh but keep trying. It's adorable! Like you're having a little seizure." He chuckled.  
"You're here..." Bonnie muttered. Terrified to be face to face with the man who had tried to kill her multiple times. And now she had no magic to defend herself.  
"Did you think you could keep screwing people over and there wouldn't be any consequences?" He asked, anger in his voice. "MOTUS!" he shouted, sending Bonnie flying across the kitchen, knocking her unconscious.

Emily had begun stirring a few minutes earlier and was stood at the door listening to see if she could figure out what was happening. She thought she heard Kai's voice, but surely not? Her head was throbbing. She slumped down with her back to the door. She needed blood. It had been days since anyone had given her any. They really thought denying her that would snap her out of it? Yea right...  
As she began to close her eyes, she heard footsteps coming quickly down the stairs and a familiar voice.

"Emily? EMILY?" It was Kai. He was really there. She pulled herself up using the small amount of strength she had left in her body, and looked out through the bars. There he was. Handsome as ever, staring straight back at her.  
"Kai... is it really you? Or am I hallucinating? I think I must be... lack of blood..."  
He ran over to the door, trying to open it with no luck. "It's me Emily. I'm here. I'm going to get you out of here. Just stand back."  
She did as he said and he shouted - "Vados"  
The cell door exploded sending pieces everywhere. Emily ran towards Kai and just as she reached him, she collapsed into his arms. "Hey crazy pants. Let's get you out of this place..." was the last thing she heard before her eyes closed.


	24. Flip The Switch

Emily slowly opened her eyes, squinting as the sun light poured in through the windows. As she moved her head, she came face to face with Kai, just a few inches away from her. She jumped.  
"Shit! Geez Kai! Way to scare the crap out of me!"  
Kai laughed and bopped her nose gently.  
"Morning sunshine! I wondered how long it would take you to come around." He smiled, looking at her sweetly.

Emily pulled herself to sit up on the bed and looked around the room.   
"Where the hell am I?" she asked, confused that it wasn't her room at the Salvatore's, or the basement, or even her dorm room.  
"This is my place. Welcome!"  
"Your... what? When did you get your own apartment? I assumed you'd been staying in crappy motels or something." She rubbed her sore head and stretched.  
"Oh, I got this place not long after I got out of the 1994 prison world. Sorry, I thought I'd mentioned it?"  
"Nope..." she groaned as she moved around. "Clearly not."  
"Well, aren't you a little ray of sunshine this morning?" Kai chuckled, still smiling at her.  
"Well, a lot's happened since you've been gone Kai..."  
"I know. I spent a day hanging around at Demons, trying to find out what was going on. So you turned your humanity off, huh?"

Emily shifted around a bit, trying to get herself more comfortable. She nodded at Kai.  
"Look, I'd love to catch up, but I could REALLY do with a drink..." she grumbled. She looked over at Kai who was still just in front of her. She could hear his pulse. She started to lean into him, the veins under her eyes showing, her eyes turning red.  
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Kai shouted, jumping back away from her. "As much as I would LOVE to have you sucking on my neck, I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Here.." He grabbed a blood bag from the backpack on the coffee table. "Drink this."  
Emily snatched the bag from Kai and drank it up within seconds. She was frowning at Kai, frustrated that she didn't get any fresh blood. It had been ages since she had fresh blood. Her veins appeared again and she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down.

Once she was calm, she opened her eyes again to see Kai sat on a chair just across from her. He didn't look quite as relaxed as he had a few minutes ago.  
"You really turned it off..." He mumbled, twiddling his thumbs and looking at the floor. He looked upset. Maybe disappointed? Emily wondered if it was because she was different now. She wasn't the same girl he'd fallen for. She turned away from him and threw herself back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.  
"Are you not going to talk to me about it at all Em?" He asked.  
She shook her head and continued staring at the ceiling, counting the tiny cracks in her head.  
"Okay..." He sighed.   
Emily sat up and jumped up from the bed, turning to face him again.  
"Look, I appreciate you trying to help me out Kai, I really do. Thank you for getting me out of that basement. But I'm not the same Emily you met a few months ago. Sorry." She walked over to grab her jacket which Kai had placed on the back of a chair for her.  
"So that's it? You're just giving up? I mean, from what I could gather, listening to Stefano and Damon talking, I'm the reason you turned it off, right?" He asked, standing and walking towards her.  
She didn't say anything.  
"Please talk to me Emily. I want to help you. I want to get the real you back again."  
"I don't want the real me back! Why can't anyone see that?! The real me was miserable. She had no real family, she was cheated on, lied to, turned into some freak of nature. I don't want her back. I'm happy with who I am right now!" Her voice was getting louder.  
"Emily..." he started to talk, then there was a knock on the door.

Emily vamp sped over and opened it. Stood in front of her was a young guy, probably in his late teens with two pizza boxes.  
"I ordered some food. Thought you might be hungry..." Kai started.  
"Starving." She said with a smirk on her face. She grabbed the pizza boy by the neck and pulled him into the apartment.  
'Emily, don't do this!" Kai shouted, but it was too late. She already had her teeth sunk into his neck and she wasn't stopping any time soon. Kai stood there in shock, unable to do anything. When she was done, she dropped the boy to the floor. He was staring up with dead eyes, his face completely drained of any colour.  
"Emily. What the..."  
"I told you Kai! I'm not the same girl you met. You're better off just leaving me alone."

Kai walked towards Emily. Her face was covered in blood. She looked so angry and so lost. He reached his hand up and gently touched her face. Suddenly she had a flash back to when her and Kai first kissed. His soft touch on her cheek. His lips against hers. The thousand stars in his beautiful eyes.  
She shook herself out of the daydream and looked at Kai.  
"What just happened?" He asked her, his hand still on her face.  
"Nothing." She started to turn and walk away but he pulled her towards him so her back was against his chest. She could feel his heart beating against her body.  
"Kai...."  
He reached his arm around, wrapping it across her stomach. The other hand moved up to her neck, his fingers tickling the delicate skin. She could feel his breath hot on her neck. She closed her eyes, taking the moment in.  
"I need you to know how I feel Emily. Before you walk out of here and never want to see me again, I need to tell you how I feel about you."  
She opened her eyes but didn't say a word, she just listened.

"When I first met you, I was a different person. I was cruel, uncaring. Then I merged with Luke, and all those emotions started pushing through that I'd not felt in years. But you were the one who woke those emotions up Emily. You were the most caring, gentle person I'd ever met. I couldn't believe you were even willing to spend time with me at that point. Then we got closer, and my feelings for you just grew. I found it hard to not be around you. I had to stop myself being around you too much because I didn't think I was good enough for you. Then when I finally convinced myself to just go for it, and we kissed, it was the best feeling in the world. I had never felt like that in my entire miserable life. I was happy. Genuinely happy for once. But then when I got stuck in the 1903 prison world, I really thought I'd lost you for good until I found a note Damon had somehow managed to drop over. I finally felt like I could have something good in my life again. You... I can't promise you that I'm never going to do anything stupid again. I've had a messed up life so far and you know that. But you bring out the best in me, and I need that. I need you. I love you Emily...."

His lips were touching her ear, soft whispers falling off them. His voice sounded like heaven. She closed her eyes tightly and a tear started to fall down her cheek.  
All of a sudden all of her emotions and memories of what she had done over the past few weeks hit her like a tonne of bricks. Every awful thing she did, every innocent person she had ripped apart. Her legs went weak, giving way and she started to fall to the ground but Kai's arms tightened around her and stopped her. He sat down on the floor with her in his arms, sobbing, tears pouring from her eyes. He turned her head to look up at him and he could see she was back. His Emily was back. And she was so broken he could hardly bare it. He hugged her tight, stroking her hair and whispering to her that everything was going to be okay, even though he wasn't sure it would be...


	25. Road Trip

Emily woke up, lying on Kai's bed in his apartment. She looked around the room and it was empty. Had he just left her? After everything he'd said to her, had he really just run off? Emily kept going over everything he had said in her head. Kai had told her how he really felt about her. He'd told her he loved her. But did he really mean it? Was it just part of a plan to get her to switch her humanity back on? Tears started to well in her eyes as she thought about how he may not have meant a word of what he'd said to her. She sat up and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. She stood and walked over to the fridge to see if there was anything she could eat. As she opened it, she spotted a blood bag with a post-it note stuck to it. She smiled, reading it. 'Went to grab some food. Didn't want to wake you. K x' She felt a huge relief. Maybe he did mean what he said...

A few minutes later, the front door opened and Kai walked in, coffee and food in hand and a huge smile on his face when he saw Emily was awake. He placed the food on the counter and walked towards her and sitting down on the sofa beside her. "Hey" he smiled. "How are you feeling?" He passed her the coffee and she took a couple of sips before speaking  
"Well. Considering I've just switched my humanity back on and reminded myself of all the awful things I...." She paused, looking around the room, placing her cup down on the coffee table. "Where did the pizza boy go?"  
"I took care of that, don't worry." He said softly, moving closer to her. "Look, the next however many weeks are going to be hard. I know. But you have to remind yourself that what you did when you had your humanity switched off, was nothing to do with you. You weren't in control." He smiled sweetly.  
"That's the thing, I knew before I switched it off that I was going to be like that. I could have stopped myself. I..."  
He took her hand and cut in. "No. You have to stop doing this. You were upset. You weren't thinking properly and you were hurting. If I had been able to do the same while I was in that hell hole 1903 prison world, I would have done."  
Her hand was still in his and his thumb was making small circular motions against her skin. She stared into his eyes, melting under such a small, gentle touch.

"Would you mind if I kiss you?" He suddenly asked.  
She smiled at him, bringing her lips towards his. As they met, she felt sparks again like the first time they'd kissed. He jumped back slightly, looking at her confused.  
"Whoa. What was that?" He asked.  
"You feel it too?" She asked him, confused. She'd assumed it was just her.  
"It feels like my whole body is tingling whenever we kiss. It happened before as well. Is that... is that normal?" He asked her, a confused look on his face.  
"I don't think so..." she laughed. He was so new to this, it was sweet. Adorable actually. She put her hand behind his neck and pulled him back towards her, pressing her lips against his again. He responded, deepening the kiss. The sparks were back. It felt amazing. She wondered how it would feel if they did more than kiss. Was she even ready for that yet?

The were still kissing, only briefly pulling apart for air every so often. Kai's hands were on her waist, pulling her as close to him as physically possible. She laid back on the sofa and he carefully climbed on top of her, his hand slowly moving to her stomach and sliding up underneath her shirt.  
He pulled away, looking at her "Is this okay?" he asked. His voice was full of concern. He sounded like he was worried he might break her.  
"Yes..." She replied, pulling him back towards her. His hands felt amazing on her skin. Every touch felt like electricity running through her body. One hand wrapped behind her back, pulling her closer still, the other caressing her neck gently. She ran her fingers down his back to the bottom of his shirt, moving it underneath to touch his bare skin. She could feel his muscles tensing slightly every time she touched him. He was so perfect.

They had been lying there for a few minutes, completely devouring one another. All of a sudden, Kai's phone started to buzz on the coffee table. Emily glanced over to see the name 'Steven' flashing up on his screen. She moved her head to the side, pulling away from Kai's lips. "Who's Steven?" She asked him, confused. He looked at her and chuckled. "Stefano. Steven. I get it mixed up." He leant back down to continue kissing her.  
"Stefan!" She suddenly sat upright, accidentally throwing Kai back with her magic.  
"Ouch!" He groaned, having landed on the floor next to the sofa, rubbing his back.  
'Oh my god, I'm so sorry Kai!" She ran over towards him, crouching down beside him.  
"I'm fine, I'm fine" he laughed, smiling at her, gaining a sweet smile back.  
"You need to ring Stefan back. They'll be worried about where I am." She looked seriously at Kai.  
"Those brothers sure have great timing." He sighed, standing up from the floor, grabbing his phone. "You know, they're going to be super pissed with me. I broke both their necks and drained all of Bonnies magic before throwing her across the room..." He glanced at Emily hesitantly, worried she was going to be annoyed with what he'd just told her. She was.  
"You did what?!" She shrieked. He was right. Damon especially would be VERY pissed off with him. He would probably want to return the favour.  
"I had to get you out of there. They weren't helping you. All they were doing was hurting you..." He muttered with a sad look on his face.  
She looked up at him, gently touching his face. "I know Kai. Thankyou. And thankyou for helping me get my humanity back. She lifted herself up onto her tiptoes so she could give him a quick kiss on the cheek and he smiled back at her.

A few minutes later, Kai was on the phone to Stefan. So far, Emily had heard him say sorry about 10 times. Every time he said it Emily shook her head and chuckled to herself. She could tell Stefan was giving Kai a hard time. She walked over towards him and gestured for him to pass her the phone so she could speak. He did.  
"Stefan?"  
"Emily! I'm so glad you're okay. Where are you? Everyone's been worried about you."   
'I'm okay Stefan. I'm just at Kai's place."  
"Kai has a place?" He asked, sounding surprised.  
Emily laughed. "Yes, he does."  
"So, are you coming back soon? We all want to see you. The girls have been going crazy not knowing where you are."  
Emily paused for a few seconds. She was sure they probably had been worried sick. But they were also the ones who caused her the pain that made her turn her humanity off.  
"I need a bit more time Stefan..." She said. Kai looked over at her, a worried look on his face. He knew exactly what she was saying.  
"What do you mean Emily?" Stefan asked her.  
"I just... need time Stefan. What you guys did. What Damon did especially... it really hurt me. Sure, I was devastated that Kai was gone, but do you know what hurt the most? Feeling betrayed by the people who were closest to me. And I'm really not sure I'm ready to face that just yet."  
"Emily..." he started, but she cut in. "I'll be back soon. Please just give me some space okay? Tell everyone I love them." she said softly. Kai was still watching her, studying every expression on her face, trying to figure out what she was thinking. How she was feeling.  
"Okay. Be careful though Emily. I'm still not sure he can be trusted."  
"I will Stefan." She said, hanging up the phone.

"Sooooo... What did Stefano have to say for himself? I was right, he was pissed that I broke his neck. Man that guy holds a grudge!"  
Emily laughed. Kai was still so clueless about normal everyday social norms. She found it cute though.  
"What you thinking?" he asked, walking over to her.  
"Just how much you've changed since I met you." she smiled.  
"Do you think? I mean, I'm still handsome, charming, funny...."  
"You know what I mean!" she laughed, playfully hitting him on the chest.  
He laughed with her and pulled her in close to him.  
"So, what did you want to do today?" He asked her, stroking her hair and tucking a piece carefully behind her ear.  
She thought for a few seconds."How do you fancy a trip to New Orleans?" She asked, quirking her eyebrow.  
He looked at her confused. "New Orleans?" He asked, furrowing his brows at her.  
"Yes. While my humanity was switched off, I did some things I really regret. There are some people in New Orleans I need to make amends wit. I have a feeling if I don't fix this, they may end up causing hell here in Mystics Falls..."  
"Are these people dangerous?" He asked, a worried expression on his face.  
"Very...."


	26. New Orleans

The drive took them about 8 hours, give or take. Most of that time was spent with Emily telling Kai everything that had happened while she was there. She explained how she had befriended then turned on the Mikaelson's, then proceeded to start an all out war between the witches, vampires and wolves. The last she had seen was them was when the brothers had tricked her and managed to knock her out with vervain. That's how she ended up back in Mystic Falls as far as she could gather. She explained how she had killed so many people. That part was hard for her to bring up. She felt like her heart was going to explode through her chest when she started thinking about all the awful things she had done, but Kai continued to listen, holding her hand to reassure her.

When they finally arrived at New Orleans, Emily directed Kai to where "The Compound" was. She asked him to wait in the car but he insisted on coming with her.  
"Only if you stand out of sight Kai. These aren't people to mess with. They could very easily kill you." She told him, a worried look on her face.  
"Emily... I really think..."  
"No Kai. No. Just wait out here. Please."  
They walked towards the compound and Kai did as Emily asked. He stood behind a pillar just inside the entrance so he could still keep a close eye on what was going on.

As she walked in, the handsome man who was stood in front of her looked up, eyes wide as saucers and a huge grin on his face. He spoke with an accent.  
"Bloody hell! If it isn't Emily Ashworth?! Do my eyes deceive me?? I wasn't expecting to see you for some time." He walked towards her, still smiling. He pulled her in for a hug which she returned cautiously.  
"Kol." She said, smiling back at him. She remembered the time they'd shared while her humanity was switched off and blushed slightly. They had been extremely close.   
Kol stepped away and shouted up the stairs of the compound. "Elijah, brother! You'll never guess who's paid us a visit!" He called out.  
Within seconds, Elijah had appeared above them.  
"Well well..." He said softly as he made his way down the stairs towards them. "We certainly weren't expecting YOU to turn up any time soon." He smirked at her, stopping in front of them both.  
"Elijah... I wanted to apologise for everything. I wasn't myself. I did some awful things while I was here...." Emily could feel tears pooling in her eyes.  
"Emily..." Kol stepped towards her, putting his hand on her shoulder.  
"It's very brave of you to come back here Emily. You know how powerful us Mikaelsons are. I could chop your head off in one swing and you wouldn't even know it was happening!" He chuckled.  
Emily stared at him anxiously.  
"Now now brother. There's no need for that." Kol began, standing between the two of them.  
"No Kol, it's okay. I deserved that. I almost killed Hayley with my stupidity. I know Elijah won't ever forgive me for that. I switched my humanity back yesterday..." she started.  
"Oh?" Elijah question, his smirk dropping from his face and a look of concern now in it's place.  
"Yes. And now, all I can think about is the awful things I did when it was switched off."  
"Emily, if there's one thing I know, it's that when that humanity switch is flicked, you have very little control over what you do. The Emily that was here before is not the Emily who stands before us now." He stepped closer to her, Kol standing to the side watching carefully. "Mistakes can be forgiven if we know they will never happen again."  
"Never Elijah, I swear." She said, a quiver in her voice.  
"Then all is forgiven my dear Emily. All is forgiven." He stepped forward, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and smiled at her. She smiled back, feeling much more at ease now.

They spent a few minutes catching up. The brothers told Emily that the rift between the witches, wolves and vampires was still ongoing but not as bad as it had been. She felt so guilty for causing all this trouble, but they assured her that it was going to happen at some point anyway, she just pushed it along. Elijah left to tend to some business and Kol and Emily continued talking.  
"What do you say we go grab a drink at Rousseau's darling? Have a proper catch up over some good bourbon?" Kol smiled, touching Emilys hand gently.  
"I...." She began. "I kind of have someone with me." She said quietly.  
"Oh? Who might that be?" Kol asked, his hand still on hers.  
"Kai...."  
"Malachai Parker? The boy you switched your humanity off because of?" He frowned. "Where is he?" He stood, about to walk out into the street to look for him but she grabbed hold of his arm pulling him back down. He looked at her with furrowed brows.  
"He didn't do anything wrong Kol. The reason I switched my humanity off was because I was so upset that he was gone. In fact, he's the reason I have my humanity back." she said softly, with a small smile on her face.  
"Oh. So you two are together now then?" He asked, his face dropping slightly as he looked at the floor.  
She felt sad that he looked so upset. Kol was the one of youngest of the Mikaelsons. He was the one who often let his heart lead his head. He had fallen hard for Emily when she was in New Orleans. Now he was finding out that she had feelings for someone else.  
"It's... complicated." She said, looking at him.  
"Well then, lets go get that drink and you can bring him along! I'd certainly like to meet the boy who stole my dear Emilys heart." He said through slightly gritted teeth, forcing himself to smile.  
"Okay Kol. But please, behave." She said, a worried expression on her face.  
"Always darling..." He replied.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A short while later the three of them were sat in Rousseau's. The conversation was flowing. The two men seemed to get along okay. In fact Emily spent most of her time listening the the two of them speak. She looked between the two. They weren't so different. Maybe she had a type she wondered and chuckled to herself.  
"Something amusing darling?" Kol asked, smiling at her.  
"Nothing Kol." She smiled back. "I'm just going to pop to the bathroom. I'll be back in a sec."  
Emily stood from the table and walked towards the ladies bathroom at the back of the bar.  
"So Kai. What's the story with you and Emily?" Kol asked, suddenly changing the subject. Kai looked slightly taken aback by the question at first.  
"Oh... uhm... I guess we both like each other. I don't know really. You'd have to ask her." He replied.  
"Well, I did, and she said it was complicated? I'm not really sure what she meant by that."  
"I mean.... It's all new. We've kissed a few times. I really like her. I think she likes me too." Kai answered. Kol could hear the nervousness in his voice.  
"Oh, so you've only kissed? Nothing more?" Kol asked. Kai shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the questions he was being asked.  
"Nothing more yet..." he replied.  
"I see..." Kol smirked. Kai studied his face for a few seconds, thinking to himself.  
"How well do you know Emily?" He asked Kol, frowning slightly.  
"Oh, very well mate. Very very well. Much better than you evidently!" He laughed.  
Kai could feel the anger building in him. He balled his fists up ready to punch the Original vampire in the face.

"Kai! Stop!" Emily ran over to him, grabbing both his arms. She stared him in the face and could see the anger in his eyes. "Kai. You don't want to do this..." She said gently, looking into his eyes.  
She could see Kai calming down and his breathing becoming less erratic.  
"I'll be outside. I think we should head off soon." He growled, not even looking at Kol.  
"I'll meet you in a second, okay?" She smiled at him sweetly, concern on her face. He nodded, and walked out of the bar.  
"Kol. What happened?"  
"I could ask you the same question." He replied bluntly. "How did you see that from all the way over there?" He said, gesturing towards the bathrooms.  
"I didn't see it, I felt it." She shrugged.  
"What do you mean, you FELT it?" He was very confused by her answer. It didn't make any sense to him.  
"I felt him getting angry."  
He still didn't understand.  
"How?"  
"I have no idea. It's been like this ever since we met. I can feel his emotions. I think it's just part of my Aurora coven thing." She sighed.  
"Aurora coven?" He asked, a strange look on his face.  
"Yes... Didn't I tell you all this before? I thought I had...." she stopped to think. Maybe it had never come up in conversation.  
"And that boy... he's from which coven?" He asked.  
"Gemini... Why are you asking these questions?"  
"Did you ever feel anything when you were with me?" He asked her, staring at her intensely.  
"Feel anything? As in, did I like you or...?"  
"No. I mean like you just did with him. Did you ever feel my emotions?"  
"No... But I assumed it was because you're a vampire... I..."  
"Have you ever felt it with ANYONE else?" He asked, a serious look on his face now.  
She thought for a second... "No, actually. I don't think I have." She furrowed her brows.  
"Oh Emily... I think theres far more to this than you realise." He sighed, touching her hand. She pulled away slowly, a quizzical look on her face.  
"Kol... What do you mean?"

"The Aurora and the Gemini covens are linked." He huffed, as if he really wasn't enjoying telling her this.  
"Linked? I know we have connections to the Gemini coven. My family were killed by them because they were trying to get Kai out of the prison world. They didn't agree with that form of punishment."  
"There's far more to it than that my darling." Kol replied.  
"And are you going to tell me exactly what that is?" She asked, getting frustrated now.  
"You and Kai are bonded to each other."  
She didn't say anything for a few seconds, just sat there in confusion.  
"We're what?" She asked.  
"Bonded. The Gemini and the Aurora coven were originally one coven. They split into two covens when they had problem with some other witches. They felt it was safer to split the covens and live in seperate states. The Auroras gained their own unique powers. Anyway, when they did this, they came to an agreement that they would still look out for one another, on the condition that in 100 years time, the next first born son of one covens leader would marry the first born daughter of the other when the younger one turned 18. They cast a spell to link the two of them together from birth."  
"Okay. But what does this have to do with me and Kai?" She asked him.  
"You and Kai were the first born son and daughter."  
"But I was only a few years old when he was sent to the prison world. He was 22. He would have been a lot older than me?"  
"It doesn't matter. It was what was agreed." he shrugged.  
Emily was slightly creeped out by the fact that her parents had agreed to her marrying someone almost 20 years older than her.  
"When Kai was sent away to the prison world, the Aurora coven were furious that the Geminis had broken their promise. There was no way they would join together again without the two of you being together."  
Emily listened intently to what Kol was saying.  
"That is why the Auroras tried to release Kai from the prison world. They needed to rejoin with the Gemini coven to become strong again. The Gemini's obviously didn't like this idea. That's when they killed them all as they gathered to try and free him. They assumed you were there too and had died. Obviously you weren't." he smiled gently.

"Okay... this is all..." She started to feel a bit light headed. All this information was too much. Had Kai known all this time? Is that why Joshua had tried to send the both of them to another prison world? Is this the reason why Kai has been letting her get close to him?  
"I know... I know. I'm sorry. I never put two and two together until you just told me you were an Aurora. But it explains a lot now. That's why you're able to feel his emotions. You're quite literally MEANT to be together."  
Emily stood from her seat and turned to walk out of the bar.  
"Emily. Wait." Kol shouted to her, following behind her. As she stepped out into the street, her legs gave way and she felt herself collapsing to the ground. Suddenly a strong pair of arms were wrapped around her and she looked up to see Kai looking down at her with a worried look on his face, just before her eyes fluttered shut.


	27. Good Enough

"Emily... Emily..." she could hear voices around her but it sounded like she was under water.  
"Emily." The voice became clearer and she slowly opened her eyes.  
In front of her face was Kai, looking extremely stressed and worried.  
"Emily!" He hugged her and gave her a smiled.  
"Kai? What happened?" Emily asked, slowly sitting up, her head pounding.  
"You passed out. Is everything okay?" He asked, worried.  
"Where are we?" She looked around and realised they were back at the compound. "Why are we back here?"  
"We carried you back here darling. I had to make sure you were okay." Kol said walking towards the pair. Kai stood up so he was face to face with Kol and glared at him.  
"Tell your little pet to back down darling. We don't want him accidentally falling and breaking his neck, do we?" He laughed. Emily put a hand on Kai's arm and guided him down to sit beside her, softly shaking her head at him.  
"I believe you two lovebirds have some catching up to do, am I right Emily?" Kol smirked. Emily glances at Kai who looked at her with a confused look on his face.  
"Yes. Thanks Kol." She replied.  
Kol left them alone and Emily began to explain everything Kol had told her.

"So... this was some weird supernatural arranged marriage?" He asked her, a cheeky smile on his face. He'd taken it all a lot better than she thought he would.  
"I guess you could say that." She chuckled.  
"I suppose that explains all the weird stuff that's been happening when we're together?" He smiled at her and she nodded.  
"This is all so strange, I know." She started saying. He reached his hand across to take hold of hers.  
"But are you okay with that?" He asked her, squeezing her hand gently.   
"I mean... I don't really know how I feel about it." She laughed nervously. "All I know is I'm glad I met you." She bit her lip, looking up into his gorgeous sparkling eyes. He's hand moved up to her chin as they both started to bring their lips closer together. Suddenly Emily felt Kai jerk away from her and he wasn't in front of her anymore. She anxiously looked around the room and saw Kai pinned against the wall with the back of a familiar figure to her. Klaus.  
"Klaus! What are you doing?!" She screeched, towards him. He still held Kai against the wall by his neck and slowly turned his head towards her.  
"Emily. I hear you've broken my little brothers heart by choosing this creature over him." He smirked at her knowingly. Kai was gasping for air and clawing at Klaus' hands to try and free himself but it was no use. Klaus was too strong.  
Kol appeared from the stairway and laughed "Oh dear. Whatever's going on here brother?!" He grinned, standing next to Emily.  
She turned to Kol and sneered at him. "Tell your brother to let him go. Now!!!!" She shouted in his face.  
Kols expression changed to one of anger.  
"You really thought you could bring your little boyfriend along with you as if nothing had ever happened between us and it would all be okay?" He snarled, getting close to her face. He wrapped a hand around her neck, lifting her from the ground. "I don't like being second best Emily...." he growled as she thrashed about.  
She managed to croak out one word, which Kai just about heard. "Siphon" she said quietly. Unable to to speak any louder with Kol's hand crushing her throat.

Kai knew what she meant. He grabbed Klaus' wrist and a drew the magic from him. Klaus suddenly yelled out and let go of Kai, dropping him to the ground.  
"What the hell did you just do to me?!" Klaus shouted, about to grab Kai again.  
"Motus!" Kai shouted, throwing Klaus across the room and knocking him out. While Kol was distracted by what was happening, Emily drew on her own energy. All of a sudden, a burning sensation ran through Kol's hand and up his arm. He felt like he was on fire.  
"Shit!" He shouted, dropping Emily to the ground.  
"Motus!" She yelled, sending Kol flying too and knocking him out.   
Kai ran to Emily and she wrapped her arms around him.  
"I thought he was going to kill you!" She shouted, tears streaming from her eyes.  
"I think he almost did. Thank you." He said, holding her face in his hands.  
"I think you had better both make yourselves scarce before these two wake up." Elijah said, walking down the stairs.  
"Elijah... I..."  
"Go, Emily."  
With that, she grabbed Kai's hand and vamp sped them to the car. He started the engine and sped away as fast as possible.

——————————————————————————

The car drive back to Mystical Falls was quiet. They had a couple of small conversations, but it felt very awkward. Kai didn't seem like his normal chatty self. As they arrived back at Mystic Falls, Kai pulled up outside the Salvatore house.  
"I thought I was going to stay at yours for a bit?" Emily asked, confused with the fact that he had driven there.  
"I think you're best to go back now and see your friends." He said. Staring ahead out of the window.  
She reached her hand over to touch Kai's arm. He continued looking forward.  
"Is everything okay Kai? You've been a bit off since we left New Orleans."  
"Yea I'm fine..." he replied quietly. She knew he wasn't.  
"Kai. If it's about what happened..."  
"No. It's fine. I'm just tired. I'll speak to you tomorrow, okay?" He said, turning to look at her.  
"Okay Kai... goodnight." She said as she started to get out of the car.  
"Night...."

She stepped out onto the gravel driveway. She felt sad, it was as if something had changed.  
"Wait..." he jumped out of the car and jogged towards her.  
She looked back at him and turned around.  
"I'm sorry..." he started. "Today's just been... a lot."  
He stood with his hands shoved in his pockets, looking down at the ground.  
"I know Kai. I do understand. If you need some time to get your head around it all, that's okay." She took his hand and he lifted his head up to look at her.  
"I don't think I'm enough for you Emily." He sighed.  
She looked at him confused. What did he mean?  
"I don't understand Kai... I thought we'd had this conversation and you realised that you ARE good enough?" She looked down to see him shuffling some gravel around with his feet.  
"I just..... You're a witch and a vampire. You have all these amazing powers. I'm just a useless siphon. That's it. That's all I can do."  
"You're much more than that Kai. You're clever, funny, gorgeous..." she smiled and tilted her head to the side. He smiled back but she could tell it wasn't genuine.  
"I'm no good for you. You can do much better." He mumbled.  
"Is that really what you think Kai?"  
"Yes!" He shouted suddenly. She could feel his anger building again, blurred with sadness. "You saw how weak I was back there against Klaus! You deserve someone strong, someone powerful who can protect you, like..."  
"Kol? You think I want Kol don't you?" She blurted out. "That's what this is all about isn't it? What did he say to you back at the bar Kai??" She shouted. He just stared at her.  
"He told me what an amazing time you'd had while you were together. How close you both were, physically..." He swallowed hard, hating the thought of it.  
"You're angry that I slept with Kol?"  
"Not angry... We weren't together. I wasn't here. You had your humanity off. But I just can't match up to him Emily."

She stepped close to him, taking hold of his face in her hands, her eyes glistening with tears.  
"Exactly Kai. That WASN'T me. That ISN'T what I want. I want you Kai. Just you."  
He looked away from her briefly then turned back. "Turn me..."  
Emily froze. She couldn't believe what he just said.  
"No Kai." She shook her head at him in disbelief. "You don't want this life. Trust me." A tear fell from her cheek and he reached up to wipe it away.  
"Emily. If it means that I get to spend it with you, that's exactly what I want."  
"I can't do that Kai. I'm sorry. If it's between turning you or losing you...."  
"You'd rather lose me..."  
He turned to his car, walking away from her. Tears were streaming down her face. She couldn't see it, but a tear fell down his cheek as he climbed into the car and drove away without a second look.


	28. Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prewarning - this chapter contains smut...! This is my first time ever writing anything like this, so I apologise if it's awful!

Emily ran into the house, tears streaming down her face and slammed the door behind her, collapsing on the floor with her back against it. She sat sobbing for a few seconds when she heard a voice and looked up.  
"Emily?" It was Stefan.  
He sat down beside her and looked over at her with concern on his face.  
"Emily. What's happened?" He asked her.  
"Kai... He just... I don't think he wants to see me anymore." she sobbed. Stefan put an arm around her and pulled her close.  
She explained what had happened that day. Stefan was annoyed that she had gone to New Orleans without telling him and Damon, but he was glad she was okay.

"What do YOU want Emily?"  
"I want him Stefan. I want him so much it hurts." she sniffled, wiping her eyes on her shirt sleeve.  
"Then tell him that."  
"He doesn't want to see me Stefan. He just drove away from me."  
"He asked you to turn him so that he could be with you. That's a big thing for someone to ask, but it's also his decision to make Emily." Stefan continued. "As much as I'd love to think a Vampire and a semi-human could have a happy long life together, eventually he would get older, and he would die, and you would then be on your own, still young..."  
He made sense, and she was starting to understand Kai's thinking.  
"He doesn't think he can protect me unless he's a vampire." She said, sighing.  
"He can't. It's just fact Emily. He's not strong enough to fight off anything bad that comes your way, and he obviously knows that and hate's the idea of losing you."  
Emily closed her eyes for a few seconds, deep in thought.  
"I need to see him." She said, jumping up from the floor. "Where are Damons keys?" She asked.  
"Damons.... no no no... he'll kill you if you take his car Emily!"  
"He'll forgive me." she smiled.  
"Fine. It's your funeral. Just do NOT scratch it!" He said seriously, pulling the keys from a drawer.  
"Thankyou Stefan." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran out the door.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

Several minutes later she pulled up outside Kai's apartment. She buzzed through and waited for him to answer. It took a couple of tries, but eventually he did.  
"What." He answered sharply.  
"Kai. It's me. Can I please come in and talk to you."  
"Emily... I.. I don't know if thats a good idea."  
"Please Kai. I need to speak to you." She pleaded. She heard the door buzz open, and walked up.  
When she got to his apartment, she knocked on the door.  
"It's open." He said gruffly.  
She opened the door and walked in. Kai was sat on the sofa with a bottle of vodka in his hand, drinking straight from the bottle. He was staring straight ahead. His eyes were red and he looked tired.  
She sighed and sat down beside him on the sofa.  
"That bad huh?" she said softly, tapping the side of the bottle.  
He didn't reply. He just took another gulp.  
'If you've come to explain the many reasons why you can't or won't turn me. Don't bother please." he huffed.  
"Is it that important to you Kai?" She asked, slowly taking the bottle from his hand and placing it on the coffee table.  
He turned to look at her with sadness in his eyes.  
"Not as important as being with you. No." He said quietly.  
She studied his face for a few seconds. She could see he had been crying. She looked down at his hands. His knuckles were bloodied. He had obviously punched something in anger. She reached out to touch his hand and he flinched from the pain. It made her realise just how frail he really was compared to her.

"If you really want this, I'll do it for you Kai. I don't want to lose you." Emily stroked his hand softly.  
"To be honest Emily, the only thing I do know right now is that I really want to kiss you..." he looked at her with a cheeky smile and she smiled back.  
Then she surprised him. She climbed onto his lap, grabbed his face and kissed him hard on the lips as if her life depended on it. He'd never felt her kiss with such determination before. He kissed her back, sliding his tongue gently across her lips to gain access. She could taste the alcohol in his tongue as it collided with hers. As the kiss deepened she slowly pulled away and leant down close to his ear.  
"I want you Kai..." she said softly. His eyes widened as she moved her head to look at him sweetly. She was biting on her bottom lip which just made him want to grab her even more.  
"I want you too Emily. So badly. I..." as he said it, their lips crashed together again. They could each feel the sparks throughout their bodies. His hands slowly moved down from her back to her ass and he stood up with her legs wrapped around his waist, not breaking the kiss.  
He carried Emily over to the bed and gently placed her down, stopping for a few seconds to step back and smile at her.  
"Are you sure you want this?" He asked.  
"I've never been more sure if anything in my life Kai." She smiled.

Kai bent down to softly kiss her, moving the kiss from her lips down her neck. He pulled her T-shirt aside to reveal her collar bone and planted a delicate kiss on it. Every so often he would look up at her to check she was still okay with it then continue.  
"May I?" He asked, lifting the bottom of her shirt slightly. She nodded and grinned at him.  
He lifted the shirt up and over her head. She was wearing a black lace bra. He slid one finger slightly into the top of one of the cups and moved it side to side grazing her nipple as he did. She let out a small groan in response. That was his cue to undo her bra which went flying across the room, knocking over the bottle that was stood on the table. Emily laughed and Kai laughed too.  
His mouth found her breasts and gently kissed each one, his fingers careful tracing the outline.  
"Perfect..." he said quietly in between kisses.  
His hand slowly moved down to her stomach, fingers trailing over her sensitive skin making her shudder.  
"I remember when I used to make you shudder for all the wrong reasons..." he smiled. She grinned back at him remembering when they first met and how his touch used to make her so anxious. Not now. All she wanted now was for him to touch her.

He moved his hands the top of her jeans and gave her another quick glance to ask permission. She nodded yes to him and he carefully peeled her jeans off her legs. He kissed from her stomach, down her thigh, all way down to her feet. Soft delicate kisses that felt like butterflies fluttering over her.  
He stopped a second, looking her up and down with a blissful look on his face. "You are so amazing Emily." He sighed, taking in a breath as if he'd forgotten to while he was looking at her.  
He sat between her legs, he's fingers running along the waistband of her underwear. He delicately slid his finger further down inside, touching her where she needed him the most. When his fingers reached that spot, he moaned at how wet she already felt.  
He moved his fingers around expertly, gently rubbing her making her let out small moans and groans every few seconds.  
"So hot..." he growled, watching her facial expressions.  
He hooked his fingers through the waistband and slowly pulled her underwear down her legs, over her knees and her ankles, discarding them like the rest of the clothes.  
All of a sudden she felt warmth on her and his tongue was lapping at her folds, making her squirm around on the bed. His hands continue working on her and she felt him slide two fingers inside her, eliciting a loud moan from her lips.  
She could feel she was so close now. Every small touch was like fire on her body. It felt like electricity was shooting out of her. As she felt the warmth in her belly she knew it was happening. She closed her eyes and clenched around his fingers tightly, her orgasm making her shout out his name over and over.

When she had finished, he sat up and kissed her gently on the lips.  
"I want you inside me Kai. Please." She begged him.  
He eagerly obliged, standing up to take off his jeans and boxers. She could see his erection standing proud. She wanted him so badly.  
He crawled on top of her, kissing her again.  
"Are you ready?" He asked. He was treating her so gently, as if she was some delicate doll that could break any second.  
She bit her bottom lip looking into his eyes. "Yes!" she almost cried out. He smirked and slowly pushed inside her. As he filled her up she let out a groan of pleasure. He felt amazing. She didn't remember it ever feeling this good with anyone else.  
"Tell me if you want me to stop." He mumbled in her ear, slowly pushing in and out of her.  
"I won't break Kai, I promise" she chuckled, grabbing hold of his ass and pushing him as far inside her as he could go. He let out a loud moan in response.  
"God you feel so good Emily" he growled. He continued to move in and out of her, both of them filling the room with sounds of moans and groans. He picked up speed and she ground her hips, pushing herself down on him even further. His movements began to get sloppier and she knew he was close.  
A few seconds later, her belly felt warm again the same as before, her walls clenched tightly as she came around him setting off his own orgasm too. She felt him jerk inside her as he came, letting out a few guttural groans. All of a sudden they heard little explosions which they could only assume were the lightbulbs going again. They looked at one another and both laughed in unison.

He stayed inside her for a little while, collapsed on top of her. Both of them hot, sweaty and breathing heavily. He looked up at her and smiled, stroking her face gently.  
"That was amazing." He said. Grinning at her like a Cheshire Cat.  
"It sure was." She replied smiling back at him.  
He pulled out of her and rolled into his back. She shifted over to him and laid her head on his chest, kissing it gently as he stroked her hair.  
Within minutes, they had both fallen asleep entangled in each other's bodies.


	29. Skinnydipping

Kai began to stir, rolling over in the bed only to be faced with an empty space next to him.  
"Oh..." he said to himself. "Was it that bad?" He wondered, worriedly. "Was it that good...?" He smirked, laying back and smiling up at the ceiling.  
He stood up from the bed and heard the shower running in the bathroom. The door was slightly ajar and he carefully pushed it open, slipping in. He stood for a minute, watching her move behind the shower curtain. Every curve of her body perfect. He smiled to himself and leant back against the door frame. At least that's what he intended to do. Instead, he forgot he'd left the door open and fell back into the room landing on the floor with a thump. He heard the shower curtain whip open and Emily stood there starting at him, the shower curtain just about covering her body.

"What the hell Kai?! You scared the crap out of me!" She shouted, a slightly amused look on her face, staring at the man still sitting on the floor with an embarrassed expression.  
"I'm so sorry Emily. I... I don't know what I was doing to be honest." He chuckled.  
"I know exactly what you were doing Malachai Parker..." she grinned, slowly stepping out of the shower onto the mat. Her wet body, dripping as she walked towards him. His mouth was open and his eyes wide as saucers as he watched her saunter in his direction. "I think you were enjoying the view...!" She raised her eyebrows and laughed, leaning down to offer him a hand and help him up. He accepted and she lifted him up from the floor. He stood staring at her for a few more seconds.  
"It's rude to stare Kai..." she said softly, fluttering her lashes. She turned around and walked back towards the shower. Giving her ass a cheeky sway as she did so. He swallowed hard and could feel the uncomfortable tightness in his pants.  
She glanced back over her shoulder to look at him.  
"Are you going to join me then?" She asked, climbing back underneath the hot water. She didn't have to ask twice.

————————————————————————

A little while later, Emily was stood in the kitchen making coffee. Kai was sat watching her every move.  
"You look cute when you're concentrating." he smiled at her, leaning his chin on his hand. She turned and smiled back at him, walking over with a cup of coffee in each hand.  
"We should DEFINITELY shower together more often by the way. That was....." he began.  
"Amazing." she replied with a grin, taking a few sips of her coffee.  
"So, whats the plan for today?" He asked, reaching across to touch her hand, stroking it gently.  
"I'm not sure... I mean, we never did have that date I promised you?"  
He thought for a few seconds then remembered how he had asked her to go on a date with him in return for him helping her friends get over to the 1903 prison world. It seemed like a lifetime ago now.  
"Ah, yes. I'd forgotten about that! What do you fancy doing?" He asked her softly.  
"I have the perfect idea." She smiled, not giving anything away.  
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow.  
"It's a surprise." She said, standing from the table and leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.

Later on, they were in the car. Emily was driving and Kai had absolutely no idea where they were going.  
"So, are you going to tell me where we're heading to?" He asked, looking over at her.  
"Nope!" She said, letting out a giggle.  
A few minutes later, she pulled into an empty carpark and jumped out of the car. She pulled a couple of bags from the car and grabbed Kai's hand, dragging him behind her. He laughed at her enthusiasm.  
After walking for a bit, they reached a lake. It was peaceful and no one else was around. She laid down a blanket on the ground and they both sat down.  
"This is nice." He said, smiling over at her.   
"When I first moved here, I used to come here a lot. The dorms can get a little crazy sometimes. This place gave me a bit of clarity." She sighed softly. He looked over at her, taking in every detail of her face. She really was so beautiful.  
"Thankyou for bring me here." He said, putting an arm around Emilys shoulder and giving her a kiss on the lips.  
Suddenly emily jumped up and pulled her shirt off.  
"Em... what are you..."  
She giggled and wriggled out of her shorts with a smile. She started walking towards the lake, losing her bra on the way. Kai sat still and watched her, mesmerized. Just before she jumped into the water, her underwear was gone completely.  
"Whoa...." he said to himself, still in complete awe.

"Hey. Are you just going to sit there, or join me?" She shouted over to him.  
He jumped up from his spot and quickly pulled his clothes off, hesitating at pulling off his boxers, looking around first to check no one else was about.  
"Come on... You're not getting shy on me are you Kai Parker? You didn't strike me as the coy type!" she laughed.  
He shook his head and chuckled, climbing out of his boxers and running over to the lake to join her. He jumped in with a huge splash, completely soaking Emily. She splashed him back in retaliation. Soon they were both splashing one another and laughing.  
Emily swam close to Kai, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her body, pressed against his beneath the water. He wrapped his arms around her waist bringing her even closer, planting a soft kiss on her lips. She kissed him back urgently, gently biting on his bottom lip as she did so. He let out a soft moan. His hands moved down to her ass and she wrapped her legs around him, slowly grinding up against his crotch. She could feel he was hard now and all she wanted was to have him inside her. He lifted her slightly and she shifted down onto him, filling her up completely. The water around them felt amazing as they moved in unison, giving each other delicate kisses. She felt a heat building up in her belly as he pushed in harder and faster. All of a sudden she lost control, coming around him, thrashing about while he held her tight joining her with his own release.   
As it happened, the water around them began to swirl with mini whirlpools, catching Kais attention.  
"Wow..." He murmered against her lips.  
She cast her gaze across the lake and spotted what Kai was seeing. "Oh....!" She exclaimed, laughing. "That's new..."

They both stepped out of the lake and Kai ran back over to the picnic blanket to grab two towels from the bag. He ran back to her, wrapping one around her shoulders tightly, pulling her close to him. She had started to shiver slightly so he rubbed up and down her arms quickly to try and warm her up.  
He pulled a towel around himself and guided her gently back to the picnic blanket, helping her sit down.  
"Thankyou." She smiled up at him as he sat down beside her.  
"I'm starving...." he grinned, beginning to grab various food items from the bag.  
Emily heard a vibration coming from her bag and reached over to grab her phone. When she looked at it she had several texts and missed calls.  
"Crap!" She started scrolling through the messages.  
"Everything okay?" He asked her with concern.  
"No, Damon and Bonnie have both been trying to get hold of me." She read the messages on her screen.  
"Elena's had an accident. Shes in the hospital. Oh my god Kai. We need to go. Now!" She jumped up, throwing her shirt and shorts on, omitting her underwear which she shoved into a bag. Kai did the same, helping her gather everything up from the blanket. They quickly made their way back to the car, Kai getting into the drivers seat.

Emily started frantically trying get hold of Damon while Kai was racing in the direction of the hospital.  
Finally after a few tries, he answered.  
"Emily?"  
"Damon! Oh my god. Damon, whats happened?"  
"Elena had an accident. She's not in a good way Emily. We need your help."  
"My help? Okay.. okay.. We're on our way!"  
When they arrived at the hospital, Kai parked up and they both jumped out and ran inside. Emily ran to the reception to find out which ward Elena was on.  
"I'm sorry Miss, there's no one here by that name. Are you sure you have the right hospital?" The receptionist asked. This was definitely where Damon had said. Emily was confused. She reached into her pocket to grab her phone and suddenly she felt a whoosh of air rush past her and out the hospital doors. She looked around and Kai was gone.

She ran outside, calling out Kai's name. As she turned the corner, she was faced with Damon standing there holding Kai against the wall.  
"Damon! What the hell?!" She shouted at him, running over to where they were.  
"I'm sorry Emily. It was the only way to do this." Damon continued glaring at Kai, pure anger in his eyes.  
"Do what Damon? Tell me what's going on?! Is Elena okay?" She asked him anxiously.  
"No she's not okay Emily. This jerks Father has her and he's refusing to give her back until he has Kai. So we're about to do a little switcharoo, aren't we Kai?" He smirked at him. Kai looking back with terror in his eyes.  
"Damon. No. Please." She begged, placing an hand on his arm, trying to appeal to his humanity.  
"I'm sorry Emily. I can't lose Elena."  
"Emily. It's okay." Kai said, nodding softly. "I'll go."  
"What? No! You're not going! I can't lose you again!" she shouted, tears streaming from her eyes at this point. How could he be agreeing to this? They had only just found each other again and now he was willing to leave her?  
"Can I just speak to her for a second Damon? Please? At least give us that." He asked. Damon frowned, unsure whether it was a trick or not.  
"Fine." He tossed him backwards against the wall, throwing his hands up. "But one sneaky move and you're dead. And don't think I won't use Emily as leverage either." He snarled. Emily couldn't believe what Damon was saying, but she knew he just wanted Elena back.

Kai walked towards Emily and they moved slightly away from Damon.  
"Kai. You can't do this. He's just going to send you away again. You know that!" She cried. He reached a hand up to touch her face gently.  
"He won't send me away. I won't let him. I need something from you though." He said in a low whisper to avoid Damon hearing.  
"What is it Kai? What do you need?" Her eyes were glazed with tears and all he wanted to do right now was hold her.  
"I need your blood." He said. She froze for a second, stepping back from him. It wasn't the first time he'd asked, but it still caught her offguard. She thought for a few seconds then moved back to whisper in his ear.  
"Okay..." She placed a soft kiss on his neck then lifted her wrist up to her mouth. She bared her fangs and bit down, drawing blood, then gently holding it to his mouth as he lapped up the red liquid.  
"Thankyou. I promise. I'll be back for you soon okay."  
"Kai...."  
He walked back over to Damon who was stood impatiently, humming to himself.  
"I'm ready." Kai said. Damon grabbed hold of him and tied his wrists behind his back, yanking him towards the car by his shirt. Kai briefly looked back at Emily before Damon pushed him into the car.  
She watched him through the window, his sad eyes staring back at her as he mouthed to her "I love you."


	30. All Good Things...

Back at the Salvatore house Emily was pacing furiously.  
"Emily. Just sit down. Please!" Caroline called out to her friend.  
"How Caroline? I can I possibly sit and relax when my boyfriend...."  
"Boyfriend? Oh... wow... So you two are like, an actual couple now?" She raised an eyebrow.  
"I... Uh... I don't know. I mean, I guess we're together. We've..... been together."  
"Oh my god Emily! Did you have sex with Kai Parker?!" She shouted out, a shocked look on her face.  
Everyone else in the room turned their heads sharply towards the pair. Bonnie looked disgusted. Stefan looked... not too suprised considering the converstaion they had had a few days earlier.  
"Seriously Emily?" Bonnie said angrily, walking towards her.  
"Yes Bonnie. Seriously. Get over it." Emily huffed, turning away from her friend.  
Bonnie reached her hand out and place it on Emilys shoulder, turning her to face her again.  
"I'm sorry Em. It's just a shock. He's done some horrible things...."  
"So had everyone in this room. Why is that so different?"  
"I..." Bonnie didn't know how to respond to that.  
"Exactly. I think I'm in love with him Bonnie." Emily said, a tear falling down her cheek.  
"Oh Em...." She wrapped her arms around her friend and pulled her in for a tight hug.

About an hour later, the front door swung open and everyone except Emily ran over to see who it was.  
Damon walked in with Elena. She looked unharmed and happy. Of course, Elena got to be happy.  
As they walked into the kitchen, they both stopped and looked at Emily.  
"Emily..." Elena began. She was cut off by her friend throwing her arms around her in a hug. As they pulled apart, Elena looked at her friend, tears streaked down her face, eyes red. "I'm so so sorry Emily. This shouldn't have happened. I promise we will do everything we can do get Kai back. Right Damon?" She asked, turning towards him, raising an eyebrow.  
"Right." He walked over and grabbed a glass of bourbon and threw it back.  
"Damon." Elena said sternly, staring at him with a deathly look in her eyes.  
"Yes, Elena. We will get Kai back."  
"And you need to say something to Emily don't you Damon?" She prompted.  
Damon walked towards Emily, a resigned look on his face. He looked down at the ground for a few seconds then looked up.  
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I tricked you. I'm sorry that I used you to get Elena back."  
"I don't know if I can forgive you this time Damon. You say you're sorry, but you just do it over and over again." She looked at him sadly. He didn't know what to say.  
"Guys. I'm going upstairs to get some rest and try to think how we can get him back." She walked out of the room, leaving her friends behind.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, Emily was sitting on her bed, writing in her journal. She hoped it might take her mind off things, but then all she could write about was Kai. She wondered he was right now. Was he even alive? Was he back in yet another prison world? Her heart was hurting thinking about the pain he might be going through. She heard a gentle knock on her bedroom door.  
"Emily... Can I come in?" Stefans voice came from the other side.  
"Sure..." she replied quietly.  
He slowly opened the door and stepped into the room. "May I?" he asked, gesturing to the spot on the bed beside her.  
"Yeah. You're fine.' she mumbled.  
He sat down gently next to her and turned to face her.  
"Damon told me he overheard you and Kai when you were saying goodbye." he said seriously.  
"Oh..." She remembered back to the conversation earlier.  
"You fed him your blood?"  
"Yes. He asked me to. I guess it was insurance incase the killed him...." she muttered, twiddling her fingers.  
"No... he knows they wouldn't ever kill him. That would kill his entire family." He replied.  
"Oh? I didn't..."  
"I know. I think that's what he's planning on doing Emily." Stefans face suddenly changed to a look of concern. "Professor Saltzmans wife, Jo. She's...."  
"Kai's twin. I know."  
"If Kai dies. Jo dies. And Jo is pregnant." He explained.  
Emily jerked her head up to look at him, a worried look covering her face. "We have to stop him Stefan....."

Emily was gathering a few bits before they left to hear to Portland. Stefan and Bonnie were both going with her. Hopefully to try and talk Kai round.  
"Right. We ready?" Stefan asked, tossing a bag over his shoulder.   
"Whats in the bag?" Emily asked.  
'Weapons." he admitted openly to her. Emilys face turned into a scowl.  
"What?! As in, vampire killing weapons? Stefan!"  
'Emily. We have to be prepared for the worst. Kai as a heretic, could be disasterous. He'll be a new vampire, craving blood."  
"He may not get that far Stefan... We can stop him before he..."

"Too late..." Damons voice appeared behind them. A solemn look on his face.  
"Alaric just called. He's been at the hospital with Jo for the past couple of hours. She was throwing up blood. She's gone." He sighed.  
Emily could feel her face burning and her eyes welling up with tears. "No. No. He wouldn't...."  
She felt a combination of sadness and anger. How could Kai do this knowing it would kill his entire family. His whole coven. Is that why he asked her to turn him before?  
"Emily. Are you okay?" Stefan asked, putting a hand gently on her back.  
"No. I'm not okay Stefan. I don't think I ever really knew him. It was all a lie." she sobbed.  
"Emily I'm sure..."  
She cut him off. "No. I'm done now. He had so many other options. He knew I would try my hardest to find him and help him, but he chose this instead. I'm done with him. He can go be whatever he wants to be. I don't want anything to do with him anymore.  
"Emily...." Stefan nodded behind her and she turned slowly, already knowing who was standing there.  
"Kai..." She said, shock on her face. "I..."  
He walked up to her and stood close. His breath on her face. Anger in his eyes.  
"Don't worry. I don't need you anymore. I don't need anyone anymore." He growled. He was covered in blood from head to toe. A crazed look in his eyes. She imagined it was much like how he looked when he murdered most of his family all those years ago.

How had she been tricked into thinking he could really have feelings for her. He was a sociopath. He had no feelings.  
She stood staring at him, tears streaming down her face.  
He said nothing. They just stared at each other. For a brief second, she thought she saw a glimmer of the man she had fallen for, then suddenly he lifted his hands.  
"MOTUS!" He shouted, sending her flying back crashing hard against the wall. She crumbled to the ground sobbing in pain.  
"Kai. Please..." She begged him. She healed quickly and stood up, walking back towards him.  
"MOTUS!" he yelled again, louder this time and she shot back again with even more force. Her friends were all stood there, frozen to the spot by a spell Kai had cast, making them unable to move.  
Kai walked towards her. She was lying on the floor in agony, looking up at him with a terrified look on her face.  
His eyes looked dead. There was nothing left of the man she had spent the most amazing night and morning with earlier.  
Suddenly he sped towards her and she felt something sharp stab her in the neck. She started to feel woozy, then her eyes closed.

\---------------------------------------------------------

As her eyes slowly opened, she tried to look around and gain her bearings but it was pitch black. She went to sit up and smacked her head hard. As she layed back down, she could hear a whooshing sound. Where was she? She tried to move her hands, but they were tied behind her back and they were burning. Vervain. She kicked her feet hard making a few loud thumps. Seconds later, the lid of whatever she was in lifted up, and there stood Kai with an evil smirk on his face.

"Morning sunshine. Sorry I had to knock you out and shove you in the trunk. I didn't think you'd agree to come with me otherwise." he chuckled. She glared back and him, squirming about, trying to break free from the ropes. "Now. Be a good girl and I might untie you." He grinned. "If that's what you want of course. I mean, we never tried that before.. may be your thing?" He smirked at her but she didn't return the smile.  
"Why are you doing this Kai?"  
"Why? Well.... Quite clearly you weren't happy with what I did in Portland. You said yourself, you were done with me now. But guess what.... I'm NOT done with you." he said, pulling her roughly from the cars trunk.  
He dragged her across the carpark and threw her through the door of a motel room.  
"I'll be back in a jiffy!" he smiled, locking the door behind him

Emily sat on the floor, confused and sad. How had he changed so much. What had happened? Surely it wasn't because he was a hertic now? She was a heretic and yes, she struggled to start with, but nothing like this.  
When he arrived back a few minutes later, he threw a bag on the floor.  
"Just kill me Kai." She said with resignation in her voice. He didn't move. He just stood staring at the floor.  
"Whatever torture you have planned for me, it will be nothing compared to what I'm going through right now. So you might as well just get it over with."  
He still didn't move. Emily wasn't sure what was happening. Whether he was about to snap and kill her. He walked away and sat on the small chair in the corner. He briefly glanced over at her.  
"I don't want to kill you Emily." He sighed.   
"Then why am I here Kai?" She asked him, her voice getting stuck in her throat a little.  
"I don't know..." he muttered, looking back down at the floor.   
"It wasn't supposed to be like this! It was never supposed to be like this!" He shouted loudly throwing something heavy across the room.


	31. ...Must Come To An End

"Please talk to me Kai. Tell me what's wrong." Emily asked with sympathy in her voice. Despite what he'd done and how he was currently treating her, she still couldn't bear him being upset or hurting in any way.

She shifted up onto her knees on the dirty carpet, looking over at him. He refused to look at her, averting his eyes in any other direction possible.  
"I still care about you." she said softly.  
"Didn't sound like it back at the Salvatores. In fact it sounded like you despised me. It's exactly how my family always used to talk about me." he muttered, still looking away from her.  
"I'm sorry Kai. I was in shock. I shouldn't have said those things."  
"But you did!" he snapped at her, jerking his head in her direction. His eyes weren't their usual sparkly blue-grey colour. They were black, like a bottomless pit she could fall straight into.  
"I know. And I'm SO sorry. I really am." Emily couldn't hold the tears back any longer. She felt them fall down her cheek, dropping down to the floor. She let out tiny little sobs, trying not to let him see how upset she was, but he did.

He jumped up from his seat and ran towards her. She flinched, thinking he was going to hurt her, but instead, he reached behind and untied her wrists, letting out a hiss in response to the burning sensation from the vervain.  
He crouched down in front of her, looking down at the floor for a few seconds before lifting his head to look into her eyes. She looked so sad. So broken.  
She stared at him for what seemed like forever, then he collapsed down onto the floor, his back against the wall beside her, face staring up at the ceiling.  
"I screw everything up." He said quietly. She could hear the cracks in his voice. His eyes were red and his face was pale. He was hurting just as much as she was.  
"You don't Kai." She shifted closer to him but still kept a safe distance.  
"Emily. How can you say that? All I've done since I met you is mess things up. Your friends hate me, I've almost got you killed multiple times. I'm an iredeemable piece of trash." He said harshly, a few sobs escaping his lips.

"You are NOT Kai! You are definitely not!" She shouted, trying to snap him out of it. She moved to kneel in front of him, her face level with his.  
"All I wanted to do was look after you, protect you, be there for you. I couldn't even do that."  
"Of course you did Kai. You saved me from myself. You brought me back when I had no humanity!"  
He didn't reply. He just kept his eyes locked on hers. His emotions unclear, but she could feel the sadness pouring over.  
"I love you Kai. I've never told anyone that before. Ever."  
"You're just saying that." He said, looking sadly into her eyes.  
"I promise you I'm not Kai. You're the person I want to be with, flaws and all."  
He swallowed hard, trying not to let his emotions show, but it was pointless. She could feel everything he was feeling right now.

They sat just looking at each other for several seconds. Emily wanted to hold him so badly, but she wasn't sure how he would react right now.  
She cautiously reached out a hand to touch his. Her fingertips barely brushing his skin.  
"You're afraid of me." he blurted out suddenly.  
"No Kai. I've never been afraid you." She said softly.  
"Really? Not even when we first met?"  
She shook her head and gave a faint smile.  
"But you used to flinch whenever I tried to touch you." he said quietly.  
"That wasn't because I was scared of you. That was because I didn't know you." she sighed.  
"Oh...."  
He turned his hand over so her fingers were now touching his palm.  
"Emily. I think I need help."  
She nodded slowly, gently stroking his hand.  
"I know Kai. And we'll get you some."  
"I didn't want to kill everyone. Something in my brain just.... They all hurt me so badly. All my mind was telling me was that I needed to get revenge and make them feel as awful as they made me feel for all those years."  
"Kai. You were neglected and abused as a child, rejected as a teen and sent away into isolation for 18 years. If your mind wasn't a bit messed up I'd think something was wrong!" She chuckled. He laughed with her, nodding his head.  
"I guess you're right." He smiled. 

Kai stood up from the floor and held his hand out to Emily. She accepted and he helped her up.  
"I'm sorry. I should never have taken you. I was just scared you wouldn't even want to see me again. It's not an excuse though..."  
"Kai. It's okay." She reached up to place a hand on the side of his face and he leaned into it gently, closing his eyes. He looked so innocent and frail stood there.   
His family had said and done unspeakable things to him. Could she really blame him for wanting to destroy them all? It was wrong. She couldn't deny that. But she wondered how she would be in the same situation. It was also very clear that he had a lot of deep seeded psychological issues that he needed proffessional help with. He probably needed it years ago, but his family were too busy berating and being cruel to him, they never even noticed the issues he had. Probably never even cared until he finally snapped. He wasn't innocent, but he definitely wasn't the only one to blame.

They sat and talked for what seemed like hours. Quite possibly was. He told her every detail of his childhood. All the bad things that had happened to him. A few good things, but mostly bad. She always thought she had it hard growing up in an adopted family without knowing her real parents. But now, she realised what she dealt with through her childhood and teen years was nothing in comparison to the hell Kai was living. He explained that despite feeling lonely in the prison world when he first got there, it wasn't any lonelier than when he was back at home. He talked, and she listened. They spoke about what they would do next. How they would get Kai some proper help and she would help him learn to control his vampire urges. They decided it was probably best not to return to Mystic Falls straight away. At least not until things had blown over. They talked about the different places they'd like to visit together. All the things they wanted to do. And he smiled. For the first time in a while, he smiled a genuinely happy smile.

He wasn't broken... he was damaged, and damaged CAN be fixed.


	32. THE END

So, thats the end of my first ever fanfiction! Hope you enjoyed it. I wanted to explore the fact that Kai was badly damaged by his family throughout his life and despite what he did, he wasn't just a monster who had no reason for being the way he was.

I'm thinking I may do a second book as a continuation.... Let me know what you think!


	33. New Book!

Hoping to get a start on the second book in the next week or so! Sorry it’s been a while. Everything’s been a bit hectic here but I have lots of ideas for where we’ll go from here :)


End file.
